LOS ANGELES - The UC Irvine men's tennis team dropped a hard-fought 4-3 decision to No. 55 Loyola Marymount on Saturday afternoon at the LMU Tennis Center.
 
The Anteaters (3-5) saw their three-match win streak come to an end, while the Lions won their fourth-straight to improve to 8-1.
 
LMU took the early lead winning a tightly-contested doubles point. Sohrob Amiryavari and Alex Guajardo fell to Cyrus Ahmad/Darius Tamadoon, 6-4, on court three. The tandem of Alex Padro Parra/Max Wuelfing then outlasted Max Fardanesh and Rohan Sachdev, 7-5, at the top of the lineup.
 
The 'Eaters had a strong showing in singles, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Lions. LMU took a 2-0 lead with a victory at the fifth position, before Sohrob Amiryavari dispatched Kuba Hrynkiewicz, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 4 to get UCI on the board.
 
LMU followed with wins at the top-two spots to clinch the victory. At No. 1, Hiroki Sakagawa was handed his first loss since Jan. 17, falling to Max Wuelfing, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.  
 
The remaining courts played out their respective matches. Tal Goodman turned in an impressive performance, displaying his resilience as he rebounded from a second-set loss to take the match, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1. Greg Gamal rounded out the day with a gutsy 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 comeback victory. It was his fourth-straight win.
 
UC Irvine will be back in action next week when it starts a four-match homestand against VCU on Wednesday, March 11.