MEN’S TENNIS FALLS TO 12-10 AFTER LOSS TO UC IRVINE

4/8/2011

Senior Kiryl Harbatsiuk won his 20th consecutive singles match with a 6-2, 6-4 victory today

IRVINE, Calif. -- Sacramento State’s Kiryl Harbatsiuk won his 20th straight singles match, but that was the lone highlight of the afternoon for the Hornets as 49th-ranked UC Irvine cruised to a 6-1 victory in a non-conference men’s tennis match Friday afternoon at the Anteater Tennis Stadium.

With the victory, UC Irvine, which is ranked 49th in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, won its fourth straight while improving to 12-5. Sacramento State had won three straight and eight of nine prior to today’s loss, and dropped to 12-10. The Hornets have just three non-conference matches remaining in the regular season before competing in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in two weeks.

Harbatsiuk’s victory came at No. 1 singles where he knocked off Sam Gould by a 6-2, 6-4 score. Harbatsiuk, who is ranked as the 31st best singles player in the nation according to the ITA, improved his singles record to 20-2 and has not lost a match since Jan. 25. Eighteen of his victories during the winning streak have come in straight sets.

UC Irvine’s Chris Kearney (6-1, 6-4 at No. 2), Fabian Matthews (7-5, 6-4 at No. 3), Ryan Cheung (6-0, 5-7, 6-4 at No. 4), Steven Henderson (6-3, 7-6 at No. 5) and Shan Sondhu (6-0, 7-5 at No. 6) were each victorious in singles play.

The Hornets’ tandem of Javier Millan and Josh Lorentzen (9-8) were the only victorious doubles team for Sacramento State as UC Irvine picked up the doubles point.

Today began a stretch that will see Sacramento State play three road matches in three days, as the Hornets travel to Pepperdine tomorrow and Cal Poly on Sunday.

#49 UC Irvine 6, Sacramento State 1

Singles competition
1. #31 HARBATSIUK, Kiryl (SACMEN) def. Sam Gould (UCI) 6-2, 6-4
2. #42 Chris Kearney (UCI) def. SMITH, Jason (SACMEN) 6-1, 6-4
3. Fabian Matthews (UCI) def. STARCEVIC, Marko (SACMEN) 7-5, 6-4
4. Ryan Cheung (UCI) def. MILLAN, Javier (SACMEN) 6-0, 5-7, 6-4
5. Steven Henderson (UCI) def. MALKO, Aliaksandr (SACMEN) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
6. Shan Sondhu (UCI) def. LORENTZEN, Josh (SACMEN) 6-0, 7-5

Doubles competition
1. Sam Gould/Steven Henderson (UCI) def. HARBATSIUK, Kiryl/STARCEVIC, Marko (SACMEN) 8-6
2. Ryan Cheung/Fabian Matthews (UCI) def. MALKO, Aliaksandr/SMITH, Jason (SACMEN) 8-3
3. LORENTZEN, Josh/MILLAN, Javier (SACMEN) def. Shan Sondhu/Chris Kearney (UCI) 9-8 (7-3)

Match Notes:
Sacramento State 12-10
UC Irvine 12-5; National ranking #49
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,2,3,1,4,5)