The UC Irvine Women’s Tennis team (7-6, 1-2) fell to California State University Northridge (7-7, 1-3) on March 22 at the Matador Tennis Complex, 6-1.
A home dual against Caltech was canceled for unclear reasons on Jan. 31. Since then, the Anteaters have gone on a 7-3 run — including a loss at home to Big West member UC Davis and a road win against UC Riverside.
The ‘Eaters had their opening dual of what was to be a three-dual homestand against Mountain West member Utah State on March 9.
UCI picked up the doubles point 2-0, but Utah State tied the dual with a 2-0 victory from sophomore Niyati Kukreti in her singles match. The Aggies tied the dual with a singles victory from senior Indya Nespor; however, UCI tied the match with a singles victory by senior Kayla Meraz. The Anteaters took a 3-2 lead with a singles win by freshman Yen Nhi Huynh and from there clinched the victory with a win by junior Haily Huynh in a singles match. Utah State scored one more singles win, but it was still a victory for the Anteaters, 4-3.
Utah State then played Illinois State at Anteater Tennis Stadium on March 10, where the Aggies were victorious over the Redbirds 6-1.
The following March 11 matchup between the Anteaters and Redbirds was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. but the dual was moved to 10:30 a.m. as a result of inclement weather. The match was officially canceled due to weather concerns and a wet court before the matchup start time.
UC Irvine faced Lehigh of the Patriot League on March 12 in a match that was originally scheduled for 10:30 a.m. but was further delayed as a result of rain. The match finally began at 1:15 p.m. and the Anteaters were victorious 6-1.
In their next match the Anteaters faced CSUN, but they lost the doubles point and the first four singles matches until freshman Maily Huynh fell in a first set to junior Sophia Dermenjyan 6-1, took the second set 6-1 and took the third set 11-9 in a tiebreaker. Down 5-1 the Anteaters lost the final singles point to fall 6-1 in the match.
With the loss the Anteaters fell to 1-2 in conference play which puts them at eighth in the Big West. They are one spot above CSUN and one spot below UC Davis in the Big West Standings.
Next, the Anteaters return home to face UC San Diego on March 27 at 11 a.m.
UCSD will play on campus at the Northview Tennis Courts against UCR on March 16 prior to the matchup against the Anteaters. UC Riverside is the final Big West team without a win in conference play, the Highlanders are currently 0-3 in conference play. UC San Diego played most recently on March 24 in a 3-4 loss to Dartmouth off campus at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.
Jack Fedor is a Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores