A 5-2 Setback Wednesday at UC Irvine

IRVINE, Calif. – Playing back-to-back matches against warm-weather opponents with temperatures near 90 degrees on Wednesday might have worn down these guys from the Windy City.

The second installment of DePaul's California road trip facing tough competition resulted in a 5-2 setback to UC Irvine who is 10-4 with all four losses coming to nationally ranked teams.

Coach Matt Brothers' team opened the trip with a loss Tuesday at Loyola Marymount.

The Blue Demons (6-10) fell behind 1-0 when the host Anteaters won the doubles point.

Luuk Wassenaar quickly evened the score with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Mike Mkrtchian at No. 4 singles.

Cal Irvine responded by winning at No. 2 and No. 5 singles---on the brink of a match victory with a 3-1 lead.

Not so fast, said freshman Matteo Iaquinto, who staved off the clincher while improving his overall record to 16-11 with a 6-2, 6-4 decision over Rithvik Krishna at No. 6 singles.

Lars Peder Minsaas did his best to tie it up, taking Lawee Sherif into tiebreakers in the second set before falling 6-2, 7-6 (9-7).

In the marquee match of the day at No. 1 singles, 2021 BIG EAST Player of the Year Vito Tonejc lost 6-4, 6-2 to nationally ranked Emmanuel Coste.

Brothers said that while his team performed better on Wednesday, the guys still needed to improve even more.

Their five-day road swing through California concludes Friday in Los Angeles with a neutral match against the Ivy League's Dartmouth (7-5). The Big Green has defeated UC San Diego and lost to UCI and No. 50 UC Santa Barbara on its West Coast trip.

UC Irvine 5, DePaul 2
March 23, 2022 at Irvine, Calif.
Anteater Tennis Stadium
Singles
1. #81 Emmanuel Coste (UCI) def. Vito Tonejc (DPU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Noah Zamora (UCI) def. Marino Jakic (DPU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Lawee Sherif (UCI) def. Lars Peder Minsaas (DPU) 6-2, 7-6 (9-7)
4. Luuk Wassenaar (DPU) def. Mike Mkrtchian (UCI) 6-4, 6-3
5. Ali Amiri (UCI) def. Tripp Tuff (DPU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Matteo Iaquinto (DPU) def. Rithvik Krishna (UCI) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles
1. Emmanuel Coste/Noah Zamora (UCI) vs. Marino Jakic/Vito Tonejc (DPU) 5-4, unfinished
2. Matthew Sah/Lawee Sherif (UCI) def. Lars Peder Minsaas/Luuk Wassenaar (DPU) 6-2
3. Ali Amiri/Mike Mkrtchian (UCI) def. Matteo Iaquinto/Tripp Tuff (DPU) 6-4

Match Notes:
DePaul 6-10
UC Irvine 10-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,2,5,6,3,1)

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Players Mentioned

Matteo Iaquinto

Marino Jakic

Lars Peder Minsaas

Vito Tonejc

Tripp Tuff

Luuk Wassenaar

DePaul University Athletics