Singles Players Pace UCI’s Tennis Team Past Washington in Tournament’s First Round

The UC Irvine men’s tennis team, led by Bruce Man Son Hing and Ken Derr, defeated Washington Friday, 7-2, in a first-round match of the sixth annual UCI Tournament.

Man Son Hing, the Anteaters’ No. 1 singles player, beat the Huskies’ Chris Pearson, 6-1, 6-3, while Derr, playing No. 3 singles, beat Bill Jacobson, 7-5, 6-1. Man Son Hing is now 15-6 on the season. Derr, who has won six straight matches, is 14-5.

Irvine, the 12th-ranked team in the country and top-seeded team in the tournament, hosts Wisconsin in a quarter-final match today at 2 o’clock.

In other first-round matches Friday, Wisconsin beat Princeton, 7-2; Arizona State beat West Texas State, 5-1; Utah beat the University of San Diego, 8-1; the University of Arkansas at Little Rock beat Iowa, 6-3; Maryland beat Weber State, 6-2; Chapman beat Arizona, 5-1, and Harvard beat Fresno State, 5-4.

In other quarterfinal matches (all at UCI unless otherwise noted) today, Arkansas at Little Rock plays Maryland at 10:30 a.m., Arizona State plays Utah at 12:30 p.m. and Chapman plays Harvard at Chapman at noon.

In consolation matches at the Irvine Marriot Hotel, Princeton plays Washington at 8:30 a.m. and West Texas State plays USD at 1 p.m.