UC Irvine
No. 72 Mustangs Eliminated in Big West Semifinals by No. 75 UC Irvine
4/24/2026 5:50:00 PM | Men's Tennis
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Mustangs saw their 2025-26 season come to an end on Thursday, falling to UC Irvine 4-1 in the Big West Championship semifinals at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.
The third-seeded Mustangs (15-8) were unable to overcome an early deficit in the doubles point against the second-seeded Anteaters (14-7). UC Irvine secured the victory by winning three of the four singles matches that reached a decision.
UC Irvine seized the early momentum by capturing the doubles point. After the Anteaters claimed a 6-4 victory on court two, the top doubles tandem of Jovan Lubbe and Leo Matthysen fell by a narrow 7-5 margin. Jack Cross and Raz Haviv were leading their match on court three 6-5 when the point was clinched, leaving their contest unfinished.
The Anteaters extended their lead to 2-0 when Hiroki Sakagawa outlasted Cal Poly’s Lubbe in a three-set battle at No. 1 singles. Lubbe, who entered the match as the team’s singles wins co-leader (13), dropped the first set 6-1 before rallying to take the second 6-3. However, Sakagawa prevailed in the decisive third set, 6-0.
At No. 3 singles, Luc Hoeijmans fell in a three-set heartbreaker to Tal Goodman, losing 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
Cal Poly finally got on the board at No. 2 singles, where Aaron Eliscu delivered Cal Poly’s sole point. Eliscu, who finished the season with a team-best 14-6 singles mark, battled back from a second-set loss to defeat Max Fardanesh 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, cutting the UC Irvine lead to 2-1.
The comeback hopes were short-lived, however. UC Irvine’s Greg Gamal sealed the team victory at No. 6 singles, defeating Cal Poly’s Sean Ferguson 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to make the score 4-1.
The match was then abandoned, leaving two singles contests unfinished. At the time of the clinch, Raz Haviv was close to sealing his No. 4 singles match 6-4, 1-6, 6-5, while Jack Cross was ahead on court five 6-3, 4-6, 3-2.
The loss ties a neat bow on the 2025-26 season, one that will surely live in Mustang minds for a while after Cal Poly captured its 17th overall championship with a Big West regular season title share.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2,6
