DAVIS, Calif. — The UC Davis Men's Tennis team will open their 2024 season on Friday, Jan. 26 at 2 P.M. where they will face the University of the Pacific in Stockton.
The Ags are coming off an impressive 2023 season, where they went 15-8 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The team welcomes back seven returners, to help lead the Ags this season. Graduate Student, Brett Brinkman, had a strong season last year with an overall singles record of 12-5 and 5-1 in conference play. The West Hills native held down court two for doubles a majority of the season and was 3-1 in conference play.
Leading the Ags are juniors Ryan Torres and Sam De Vries. Torres had 4 wins on courts one through 4 last season and accumulated a 3-2 record in doubles with Lucas Bollinger. After a favorable fall season, he placed in the 62nd spot on the rankings for ITA's top 125 DI Men's Singles players. Irvine native, De Vries, finished 10-10 overall last season and 8 of his 10 wins came in straight sets. He had a record of 3-2 in conference while holding down courts 4 and 5 most of the season.
The Djakouris brothers are looking to make an impact this season. Senior Antreas Djakouris, recently transferred from UC Riverside and is looking to help lead the Ags to success. In his second year with the Highlanders, he started the season 5-0 in singles all being straight-set victories, and bounced back after his first singles loss for a 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 win against Gonzaga. The younger of the Djakouris brothers, Constantinos, is in his second year with the Aggies and has made a notable impact already. Constantinos Djourkis led the Aggies' singles efforts from court 2, posting a 7-1 record and a 12-4 record overall. In his first season, he managed to win seven straight matches mid-season and clinched an upset during that period versus UC Santa Barbara which won him Player of the Week.
Rounding out the sophomore class is Lucas Bollinger who was a powerhouse at courts 4, 5, and 6 throughout last season. The Vintage High School alum finished with an overall singles record of 13-6 and 4-1 in the Big West Conference, making his 13 singles win a team-leading total.
The Freshman of this season are a promising class. Eduardo Gonzalez comes to us from Palm Desert High School where he accumulated a 26-1 record in singles setting him at the top spot in his league. Ivan Savkin hails from Carlsbad, Calif. The 6'3 freshman is a 4-star recruit according to TennisRecruiting.net and looks to contribute to a promising season. Finishing off the first years is
Max Fardanesh who ranked as high as #8 in the US for the 2021 class on TennisRecruiting.net, and was a Blue Chip recruit for four years straight.
The Aggies will continue their start of the season into the weekend, where they will be taking on Saint Mary's and Fresno Pacific at home on Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Mayra Welsh Tennis Courts at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively. Come out and enjoy some Aggie Tennis!
