March 12, 2010

IRVINE, Calif. - The No. 48 UC Irvine men's tennis team (8-4, 1-0) defeated Penn 5-2 Friday afternoon in non-conference play at Anteater Tennis Stadium.

The ‘Eaters took a 1-0 lead as they won all three doubles matches. Junior Khunpol Issara (Bangkok, Thailand) and sophomore Sam Gould (Hamilton, New Zealand) defeated Eugene Bradzil and Phil Law 8-4 in No. 1 doubles. Senior Zac Tsai (Tarzana/Oaks Christian HS) and sophomore Steven Henderson (Poway HS) beat Jason Magnes and Mark Milbrandt 8-2 in the No. 2 match. Sophomore Fabian Matthews (Corona del Mar HS) and junior Stephen Stege (Los Gatos HS) downed Adam Schwartz and Jeff Karsh 8-3 in the No. 3 slot.

In singles, Gould beat Bradzil 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 1 match to put UCI up 2-0. Matthews gave UCI a 3-0 lead with his 6-3, 6-1 victory over Schwartz in No. 2 singles. Issara clinched the overall win for the ‘Eaters as he beat Karsh 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 6 match. Henderson made it 5-0 as he downed Magnes 6-3, 2-6, 11-9 in the No. 5 match. Senior Shimpei Suzuki (Woodbridge HS) lost 6-7, 6-2, 10-1 in the No. 3 slot. Jason Lin concluded the match with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Tsai in No. 4 singles.

The 'Eaters will next head over to the Racquet Club of Irvine to face UC Riverside at 6:00 p.m. in Big West action as the second match of Friday’s doubleheader.