Men's Tennis Match 9

Saturday, January 27 vs Biola University @ 10 am Riverside, CA

Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Tennis Team (2-6) hosts Biola University (0-2) at 10 am this Saturday at the SRC Tennis Courts.

Saturday will mark the first time the Highlanders and Eagles meet. Biola University finished its 2017 season 8-14 overall and 1-5 in away matches.

LAST WEEK
The Highlanders went 0-3 in Las Vegas, NV against UNLV, Weber, and New Mexico State despite improvements from their meetings last year. Vignesh Subramanyan leads the Highlanders in Singles with a 7-1 record for 2018.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Nabil Abdallah was named Big West Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week for his play against Westmont and UC San Diego on Saturday, January 27 (Recap). Abdallah is undefeated in singles at the No. 4 position (5-0), and is 4-1 in #3 doubles with partner Anderson Ju.

NEW YEAR, NEW RECORD
Head Coach Mattias Johansson returns for his third season with the Highlanders. In his first year, the Highlanders won a Division I program record 13 matches, went 10-5 at home, and saw seniors Julian Ruffin and Sean Robles named All-Conference Honorable Mention. In Johansson's second year at UC Riverside, the Highlanders set a new Division I program record with 14 match wins and went 9-7 at home.

RETURNERS
Juniors Kyle McCann and Anderson Ju lead a team with three returning Sophomores and five new Freshmen. McCann recorded 15 singles victories in his Freshman season—the third-most in the history of the program since joining the Big West in the 2001-2002 season. Last year, McCann charted wins in nine of his 16 doubles matches, partnered with returning Sophomore Max Cohen for all but the first match.

Anderson Ju tallied 13 wins during his Freshman season—the fifth highest total on the team's Division I charts. Ju recorded another nine singles wins during his Sophomore season last year.

Gilbert Chung returns for his second season after being named SAAC Male Freshman of the Year for his record 20 singles matches last season against only nine losses, setting the program record for singles victories in a season. Chung was also named to the All-Conference Team and named Honorable Mention for his play in doubles.