MEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
UC IRVINE WINS FIFTH STRAIGHT FIRST ROUND MATCH
BOX SCORE
The No. 3 seeded UC Irvine men’s tennis team outlasted sixth-seeded Hawai‘i in the first round of the Big West Tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Thursday.
The Anteaters earned a 4-1 win to improve to 15-7 on the season, reaching the semifinals for the fifth straight year. The Rainbow Warriors ended their season 7-13.
UCI took the doubles point for the 1-0 lead. The duo of Luis Lopez and Bruce Man-Son-Hing improved to 14-3 on the year in doubles dual matches, toppling Blaz Seric and Simao Telo Alves, 6-1. UCI clinched the point at No. 3 as Mason Hansen and Sasha Krasnov downed Chia-Hua Lu and Asad Siyyid in a tight 6-4 match.
Aaron Bailey put the ‘Eaters up 2-0 with his win at No. 6, and Daniel Gealer widened the advantage with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Telo Alves at No. 5. Gealer improved to 14-5 in dual matches this season.
Andre Ilagan brought a point back for UH as the freshman took down Krasnov in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
The ‘Eaters thwarted any idea of a comeback with Mateusz Smolicki leading the way in his match at No. 3, upending Seric in a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1) affair.
UCI takes on No. 2 seed Cal Poly in the semifinals on Friday at 3 pm. The ‘Eaters look to avenge a 5-2 loss to the Mustangs on March 30 in San Luis Obispo.
BIG WEST MEN’S TENNIS FIRST ROUND
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
THURSDAY, APRIL 25
(3) UC IRVINE 4, (6) HAWAI‘I 1
Doubles
1. Vatsal Bajpai/Smolicki (UCI) vs. Ilagan/Labrunie 4-5, unfinished
2. Lopez/Bruce Man-Son-Hing (UCI) def. Seric/Telo Alves (UH) 6-1
3. Hansen/Krasnov (UCI) def. Lu/Siyyid (UH) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. Andre Ilagan (UH) def. Sasha Krasnov (UCI) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
2. Luis Lopez (UCI) vs. Lucas Labrunie (UH) 7-5, 6-6, unfinished
3. Mateusz Smolicki (UCI) def. Blaz Seric (UH) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1)
4. Daniel Gealer (UCI) def. Simao Telo Alves (UH) 6-3, 6-3
5. Mason Hansen (UCI) vs. Chia-Hua Lu (UH) 6-3, 3-6, 5-3, unfinished
6. Aaron Bailey (UCI) def. Asad Siyyid (UH) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 4, 1, 3
UC DAVIS MOVES INTO SEMIFINALS FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT YEAR
BOX SCORE
Fourth-seeded UC Davis advanced to the semifinals of the Big West Men’s Tennis Tournament for the sixth straight year, defeating No. 5 seed UC Riverside on Thursday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The 4-1 win put the Aggies in the semifinal round for the sixth straight year. UC Davis earned the doubles point, and got wins from Nil Giraldez, Chethan Swanson and Arjith Jayaraman as the team improved to 12-10 on the year.
UC Riverside, winners of a school record 20 matches this season, concluded its season at 20-16.
Both teams tangled for the doubles point, splitting the first two matches at No. 1 and No. 3. The point came down to the No. 2 spot, where Alex Scemanenco and Daniel Landa defeated Anderson Ju and Andreas Whelan-Merediz, 7-5, to give the Aggies a 1-0 edge.
Vignesh Subramanyan quickly tied the match as the Highlander sophomore rolled to a 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles.
Jayaraman put UC Davis back on top with his 6-1, 6-4 triumph at No. 6 singles. Chethan Swanson gave the Aggies a 3-1 lead with his 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 over Andreas Whelan-Merediz.
All three singles matches in the top half of the lineup had reached third sets. The Highlanders were positioned to win at No. 1 and No. 2, but the Aggies leaned on Nil Giraldez to close out the match.
The freshman won his clash with Nabil Abdallah, winning the three-setter by a score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
UC Davis earned a semifinal matchup with top-seeded UC Santa Barbara on Friday at 3 pm. The Gauchos are the four-time reigning Big West Tournament champions.
BIG WEST MEN’S TENNIS FIRST ROUND
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
THURSDAY, APRIL 25
(4) UC DAVIS 4, (5) UC RIVERSIDE 1
Doubles
1. Goulak/Thamma (UCD) def. McCann/Max Cohen (UCR) 7-5
2. Alex Scemanenco/Landa (UCD) def. Ju/Whelan-Merediz (UCR) 7-5
3. Chung/Abdallah (UCR) def. Dariush Jalali/Swanson (UCD) 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. David Goulak (UCD) vs. Kyle McCann (UCR) 4-6, 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
2. Ivan Thamma (UCD) vs. Gilbert Chung (UCR) 7-5, 6-7 (4), 0-3, unfinished
3. Nil Giraldez (UCD) def. Nabil Abdallah (UCR) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
4. Chethan Swanson (UCD) def. Andreas Whelan-Merediz (UCR) 6-2, 6-3
5. Vignesh Subramanyan (UCR) def. Daniel Landa (UCD) 6-0, 6-3
6. Arjith Jayaraman (UCD) def. Anderson Ju (UCR) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 3