IRVINE, Calif., – The LMU men's tennis team defeated UC Irvine 4-3 in a fiercely competitive matchup on Saturday afternoon in Irvine, Calif. 
 
The Lions opened up with a clean sweep of the doubles matchup. Austin Di Giulio and Emin Torlic took court one in a heated 7-5 set. John Bryan Otico and Toky Ranaivo cruised on court two 6-1. The team of Alex Padro Parra and Alvaro Gonzalez also took court three 7-5. 
 
In the singles competition, LMU got points from Yassine Smiej, Torlic, and Gonzalez. 
 
Smiej swept on court one 6-3, 6-4.  
 
Court two went to three sets as Torlic took the first set 6-4, dropped the second 1-6, and then dominated in the third 6-1 to claim the third point for the Lions and put them on the brink. 
 
Gonzalez battled on court 6 in what ended up being the match point for either team. After dropping the first set 2-6, Gonzalez fought back in a tough tiebreaker to win the second set 7-6 (7-5) to set up a decisive third set to determine the team winner. Gonzalez displayed grit when the third set also went to a tiebreaker, defeating his opponent 7-6 (7-3) to claim the team victory. 
 
With the win, the Lions improved to 2-1 in the nonconference schedule. They are back on the court on February 11 to take on the UCSB Gauchos in Santa Barbara, Calif. That match will begin at 1:00 p.m. (PT).