College Tennis

UCI opens NCAA play

The UCI women’s and men’s tennis teams will open NCAA Tournament play Friday and Saturday, respectively, it was announced Tuesday.

The UCI women (13-10), who claimed their first Big West Conference Tournament crown Sunday, begin their second NCAA Tournament appearance against No. 17-ranked Mississippi (15-5) at 11 a.m. at Georgia Tech.

The UCI men (17-11), who won the Big West Tournament title Sunday, face No. 17-ranked Cal (12-7) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at noon.

Georgia Tech (18-9) and Austin Peay (18-3) round out the UCI women’s four-team regional, while UCLA (14-6) and Sacramento State (17-11) are the other two men’s teams in the four-team regional field with UCI.

The first-round winners will play Saturday (women) and Sunday (men) for the right to advance to the round of 16.

UCI, led by 2010 Big West Coach of the Year Trevor Kronemann, is making its 10th trip the Division I men’s tournament, its first since 2005, when it lost in the first round to Pepperdine.

The UCI women, guided by 2010 Big West Coach of the Year Mike Edles, lost to Texas in the first round in its only other tournament appearance in 2007.

Ole Miss won its first outright Southeastern Conference Western Division crown this season and was second in the SEC overall.

Cal is making its 11th straight postseason appearance, its 45th overall trip to the NCAA Tournament.

UCI sophomore Courtney Byron earned first-team all-conference recognition in singles and paired with sophomore Stephanie Hammel to garner second-team honors in doubles.

UCI freshman April Bisharat was second-team all-conference in singles.

Sophomores Sam Gould and Corona del Mar High product Fabian Matthews, were first-team all-conference men’s singles honorees.

Senior Zac Tsai and sophomore Steven Henderson received first-team honors in men’s doubles.

Tsai was a second-team choice in singles, while Gould and Khunpol Issara were second-team picks in doubles.

Henderson and senior Shimpei Suzuki received honorable mention in men’s singles, while Hammel received honorable mention in the women’s singles voting.

The tandem of Byron and Kristina Smith received honorable mention in women’s doubles.

— Barry Faulkner