Fifth-Ranked Pepperdine Beats UC Irvine

Fifth-ranked Pepperdine defeated No. 18 UC Irvine, 6-3, in a nonconference tennis match Saturday at the Newport Beach Tennis Club.

The Anteaters’ top singles player, Bruce Man Song Hing, upset the nation’s 19th-ranked player, Dani Leal, 6-1, 6-0, in the No. 1 singles match.

UCI (25-11) scored another upset in the No. 2 singles when Ken Derr beat Carlos DiLaura, ranked 21st nationally, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Irvine’s other victory was by Art Hernandez, who defeated Craig Johnson, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 6 singles.

Pepperdine (26-4) was led by Kelly Jones, a member of the 1984 Olympic team. He defeated Darren Yates, 6-3, 6-3, and later paired with DiLaura in the No. 1 doubles match to beat Yates and Julian Barham, 7-6, 6-1.

UCI will play San Diego State at the Racquet Club of Irvine on Tuesday.