IRVINE, Calif. - Utah State men's tennis (3-1, 0-0 MW) posted a 5-2 victory over UC Irvine (0-1, 0-0 Big West) on Sunday afternoon at Anteater Tennis Stadium in Irvine, Calif.

"I thought the guys did a good job of bouncing back and started off strong in today's match," said head coach James Wilson. "We made it a little more difficult than it should have been, but overall, I was happy with the effort and resiliency."

USU won the doubles point as sophomore Jose Carvajal and freshman Isaac Arevalo Gómez beat senior Luis Lopez and sophomore Mateusz Smolicki, 6-3, while junior Sergiu Bucur and freshman Rithvik Bollipalli defeated senior Vatsal Bajpai and junior Bruce Man-Son-Hing, 7-5, to capture the first point of the day. 

In singles, Arevalo won his first set, 6-1 against Lopez, but lost the second set, 1-6. The third and deciding set went to Arevalo as he earned the win with a third set score of 6-4 at the No. 1 spot. Opacic won in straight sets against Smolicki, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 3 spot. 

Sophomore Felipe Acosta and UC Irvine senior Mason Hansen played into the third set as each player captured the first and second set by scores of 6-2 and 7-6, respectively. Acosta ultimately came out on top with a 6-3 victory in the third set. Carvajal also took his match to three sets against junior Daniel Gealer as Carvajal was down in the first set, losing 3-6. He went on to win the next two sets, 6-3, 7-6, for the comeback on court five.

Utah State will be back in action next weekend as it plays at the Texas-hosted ITA Kick-Off Weekend Jan. 25-26 with Washington, Texas and Miami (Fla.).

RESULTS
Utah State 5, UC Irvine 2
Doubles
1. Jose Carvajal/Isaac Arevalo Gómez (USU) def. Luis Lopez/Mateusz Smolicki (UCI) 6-3 
2. Sergiu Bucur/Rithvik Bollipalli (USU) def. Vatsal Bajpai/Bruce Man-Son-Hing (UCI) 7-5 
3. Mason Hansen/Daniel Gealer (UCI) def. Duro Opacic/Felipe Acosta (USU) 6-1

Singles
1. Isaac Arevalo Gómez (USU) def. Luis Lopez (UCI) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
2. Sasha Krasnov (UCI) def. Sergiu Bucur (USU) 6-0, 6-4
3. Duro Opacic (USU) def. Mateusz Smolicki (UCI) 6-4, 6-4
4. Felipe Acosta (USU) def. Mason Hansen (UCI) 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
5. Jose Carvajal (USU) def. Daniel Gealer (UCI) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Aaron Bailey (UCI) def. Rithvik Bollipalli (USU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6