California Irvine Athletics

Big West Semifinal
[2] UC Irvine (13-7, 5-1 Big West) vs.
[3] Cal Poly (14-8, 5-1 Big West) or [6] UC San Diego (10-15, 1-5 Big West)
Date: Friday, April 24
Time: 1 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Barnes Tennis Center - San Diego, Calif.

Big West Championship
Date: Saturday, April 25
Time: 10 a.m. (PDT)
Location: Barnes Tennis Center - San Diego, Calif.

Big West Championship Central | Match Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - The 75th-ranked UC Irvine men's tennis team begins its Big West Championship title defense in the semifinal round at Barnes Tennis Center on Friday, April 24. The Anteaters will face either No. 3 Cal Poly or No. 6 UC San Diego at 1 p.m. The championship match is then slated for 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 25.

The 'Eaters won a share of their seventh Big West regular season championship. They finished conference play with a 5-1 record to tie for first with UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. Based on a tiebreaker, UCSB earned the No. 1 seed, UCI the No. 2 seed, and CP the No. 3 seed.  

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• Last year, UC Irvine won its second-straight Big West Championship, and third in four seasons (2022, 2024, 2025).
• The 'Eaters came in at No. 75 in this week's ITA Team Rankings, their first national ranking of the season.
• Six of the Anteaters' seven losses were against teams ranked among the top-65 in the nation.
• UCI went 11-0 at Anteater Tennis Stadium with its lone home loss coming at the Racquet Club of Irvine on Jan. 31.
• Hiroki Sakagawa won a conference-best four Big West Player of the Week awards in 2026.

BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS
UC Irvine is the back-to-back defending Big West champion. The Anteaters have won six conference tournament titles, three of which have come in the last four years (2022, 2024, 2025). In the Big West's current format (since 1994), the 'Eaters have been the No. 2 seed in 10 of their 31 appearances. As the two-seed, UCI is 12-8, advanced to the finals five times, and won two titles.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine won a share of the Big West regular season title with a 4-0 victory at UC San Diego last Saturday. Sohrob Amiryavari and Alex Guajardo picked up an impressive 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles, before Tal Goodman and Hiroki Sakagawa clinched the point with a 7-6 (2) triumph on court two. Sakagawa continued his dominance at the top of the singles lineup where he made quick work of Oliver Worth, 6-2, 6-2. After outlasting David Adamson in a first-set tiebreaker, Greg Gamal cruised the rest of the way to a 7-6 (3), 6-0 victory at No. 6. Goodman then delivered a 6-1, 6-4 match-clinching win at the third position.

SEMIFINAL FOES
No. 3 seed Cal Poly (14-8, 5-1 Big West) clinched a share of the Big West regular season title with a 4-3 victory over UC Santa Barbara last Friday. Jovan Lubbe leads the Mustangs with 13 singles wins, 11 of which have come at the top of the lineup. The Mustangs will face No. 6 UC San Diego (10-15, 1-5 Big West) in the second round on Thursday. The Anteaters defeated Cal Poly (4-1) and UCSD (4-0) during the regular season.

OUR HIRO
Graduate student Hiroki Sakagawa, who missed last season with an injury, made his presence felt in his return to the court. Sakagawa leads the squad with a 13-3 singles record, all at the top of the lineup, and enters the postseason on a six-match win streak. On April 15, he took home his conference-leading fourth Big West Player of the Week award following back-to-back straight-set victories against Cal Poly's Jovan Lubbe, 7-6 (7), 6-1, and No. 87 Lucca Liu of UC Santa Barbara, 7-6 (4), 7-5. He also received the distinction on April 8 after a resilient three-set triumph that sealed UCI's 4-3 Big West-opening win at UC Davis. Sakagawa dropped a hard-fought first set to Lucas Bollinger and was trailing 5-3 in the second, but battled to save a match and Aggie team clinch point. He rode that momentum all the way to a 7-5 triumph and pulled ahead 4-2 in the decisive third frame when rain halted play, delaying the match until the next morning. The break in action didn't faze the Chiba, Japan, native as he picked up right where he left off, finishing the gutsy 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 match-clinching win. Earlier in the season, Sakagawa defeated No. 103 Manvydas Balciunas of 11th-ranked San Diego, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. He was rewarded for that effort with his first career Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week honor on Feb. 11. Sakagawa claimed the award again two weeks later after going 2-0 against Saint Mary's and San Diego State.

MAX EFFORT
Max Fardanesh was named the Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week on March 18. Fardanesh was recognized after leading UC Irvine to four wins in four days as he went 3-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles from March 11-14. In the back end of a doubleheader, Fardanesh teamed up with Rohan Sachdev for a 6-3 win at No. 1 to secure the crucial doubles point against Army. UCI pulled ahead 3-0 in singles before the Black Knights rallied to tie it up. It came down to the top of the lineup where Fardanesh, who was playing his fourth match and was well into his fifth hour on the court for the day, was in a third set against Jackson Armistead. Fardanesh fought through the fatigue, claiming a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 win for the 'Eaters. On the season, he is tied for the team lead with seven doubles victories, while he also has eight singles wins, all of which have come at Nos. 1 and 2. In his two years at UCI, Fardanesh is 10-2 against Big West opponents (including postseason).

DOWN TO THE WIRE
UC Irvine is 5-1 in 4-3 matches this year. Five days before their thrilling 4-3 win at UC Davis, the Anteaters also came from behind to top Dartmouth in their non-conference finale on March 26. UCI claimed the doubles point, but the Big Green took the early momentum in singles, winning the first set on all six courts. Dartmouth went on to close out three straight-set victories to go up, 3-1. Hiroki Sakagawa and Max Fardanesh then rebounded to upend their respective opponents in three to even the match. All eyes turned to court four where Sohrob Amiryavari delivered a clutch 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 win. 

ENTERING THE MIX
Freshman Greg Gamal has been a steady force in the Anteaters' singles lineup. Gamal is second on the team with a 12-3 record while playing at Nos. 5 and 6. The Villa Park native has won five straight, and 12 of his last 13. He went 5-0 in Big West play. Freshman Alex Guajardo has been in the doubles lineup for all but one dual match this season. He owns six victories alongside Sohrob Amiryavari.

SINGLES SUCCESS
UCI was a dominant 22-7 in singles during the Big West regular season. Hiroki Sakagawa and Greg Gamal both went a perfect 5-0, while Ruining Huang was 4-0 with one unfinished match.

DOUBLE DIGIT WINS
The 'Eaters recorded their 10th victory of the season with a 7-0 triumph over UC Riverside on April 6, marking the sixth consecutive year they have reached double digits in the win column. Since 2021, the Anteaters own an 88-41 (29-7 Big West) dual-match record.

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
Two years ago, Hiroki Sakagawa led UCI to the 2024 Big West Championship, delivering the match-clinching singles victory in both the semifinal and final. He earned first-team All-Big West honors in singles and second-team recognition in doubles. In 2025, Sakagawa led from the sideline while missing the dual-match campaign with an injury. He is the only member of this year's squad that was on the team for each of the Anteaters' last two conference titles. Graduate student Sohrob Amiryavari, junior Max Fardanesh, and sophomore Ruining Huang also played a significant role in the team's 2025 Big West Championship in their first year as Anteaters. Fardanesh led the trio, garnering All-Big West honorable mention distinction in singles. He went 12-3 in dual matches, 5-0 in conference, and 3-0 at the Big West Championships. Amiryavari finished his first campaign in the Blue & Gold with nine wins, capped by a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Blake Kasady of seventh-ranked San Diego in the NCAA tournament. Huang added eight victories playing primarily at the fourth position as a true freshman. 

TRANSFER ADDITIONS
Graduate transfers have been key to UCI's recent success, and this year is no different as the Anteaters added depth and experience with Rohan Sachdev and Tal Goodman. Sachdev came to Irvine from Georgia Tech, which was ranked for a majority of his three seasons with the program. Sachdev was also a member of the Yellow Jackets' 2024 NCAA tournament team. Goodman spent the last four years at Penn where he was ranked as high as 74th in doubles. Goodman has seven singles and seven doubles wins as an 'Eater, while Sachdev has been part of the Anteaters' No. 1 doubles team for a majority of the season.

UP NEXT
The Big West champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Men's Tennis Team Championship. The selection show is scheduled for 1 p.m. (PDT) on Monday, April 27.