IRVINE, Calif. – The 50^thranked University of Utah men's tennis team defeated the University of California Irvine earlier today with a final score of 7-0. With this win, the Utes now move to 13-5 overall on the season. 
 
"UCI has a solid team and to come out here and beat them the way we did says a lot about our guys. I'm really proud of the guys and the way we competed. It's our first dual match of the year outdoors at sea level and I thought we handled things really well," said head coach Roeland Bratueanu. 
 
The Utes were able to take the early edge as they were able to earn the doubles point. Russell Benkaim and Joe Woolley picked up the first win of the day on the No. 3 court, defeating Mason Hansen and Daniel Gealer with a final score of 6-3. Slava Shainyan and David Micevski then sealed the point at the No. 1 position, knocking off Vatsal Bajpai and Mateusz Smolicki with a score of 7-5.
 
The Utes then swept competition in singles, with Dan Little, Micevski, Shainyan, Benkaim, Mathias Gavelin, and Woolley all picking up individual wins, to give the Utes the 7-0 sweep. The University of Utah men's tennis team will be back in action this Saturday, as they will travel to take on Cal Poly, with competition set to start at 1 p.m. MT.
 
Utah 7, UC Irvine 0
 
Doubles (3,1)
Shainyan/Micevski (UTAH) def. Bajpai/Smolicki (UCI), 7-5
Hankuliyev/Little (UTAH) vs. Man-Son-Hing/Lopez (UCI), 5-5, unf.
Benkaim/Woolley (UTAH) def. Hansen/Gealer (UCI), 6-3
 
Singles (5,4,6,1,2,3)
Dan Little (UTAH) def. Sasha Krasnov (UCI), 6-3, 7-5
David Micevski (UTAH) def. Luis Lopez (UCI), 6-4, 6-4
Slava Shainyan (UTAH) def. Mateusz Smolicki (UCI), 5-3, 3-6, 7-6
Russell Benkaim (UTAH) def.  Mason Hansen (UCI), 6-4, 6-3
Mathias Gavelin (UTAH) def. Daniel Gealer (UCI), 6-3, 6-2
Joe Woolley (UTAH) def. Aaron Bailey (UCI), 6-4, 6-3