IRVINE, Calif.—The doubles pair of juniors Alex Kim (Cary, N.C.) and Justin Suarez (Manila, Philippines) stepped into the No. 1 spot in the lineup and tallied a 6-4 victory but Villanova (2-6) fell by a final score of 4-0 to UC Irvine (5-4) at Anteater Tennis Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. UC Irvine clinched the match with wins in the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots.
 
Kim and Suarez posted a 6-4 win over Emmanuel Coste and Noah Zamora as the two teams split the first two doubles matches. Ali Amiri and Riccardo Roberto posted a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles against freshman Trey Fourticq (Los Angeles, Calif.) and sophomore Anthony Prokurat (Manalapan, N.J.) before the Anteaters clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win against senior Matthew Jones (Dallas, Texas) and sophomore Ryan Nguyen (Oakton, Va.) in the No. 3 doubles match.
 
In a different look for the Wildcats lineup during a busy week of matches in California, Fourticq stepped up to the No. 1 spot in the singles lineup and fell to Roberto in a 6-3, 6-2 decision. Sophomore Noah Winton (Columbia, Mo.) dropped a 6-0, 6-2 match at No. 5 singles and junior Will Gatti (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was defeated by set scores of 6-3 and 6-3 by Rithvik Krishna in the No. 6 singles match.
 
Jones faced Lawee Sherif at No. 3 singles and the match was in a third set when play was halted. After Jones opened the match with a 6-3 win in the first set, Sherif tied the match with a 6-1 second-set victory and was ahead by a 2-0 score in the third set.
 
Villanova continues play with a dual match against UC San Diego on Thursday morning.