MALIBU, Calif. — The No. 6 Pepperdine women’s tennis team begins dual match play this weekend, as it hosts San Diego State, LMU and LSU at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend.
Matches will be played at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with a consolation match between the two losing teams on Saturday. Admission is free to the public. All matches will be livestreamed via PlaySight; links to live stats and video can be found on the women’s tennis team’s schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
A berth to Seattle for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships is on the line for the Waves, who were ranked sixth in the latest ITA polls this week. Pepperdine has qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championships in every season since 2017.
MATCH 1: #6 Pepperdine vs. SDSU | 10 a.m. | Malibu, Calif. | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Two weeks ago, the #6 Waves traveled to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Freeman Memorial Tournament, in which Pepperdine had a few solid showings in doubles and singles against three nationally-ranked opponents. For the team’s efforts, the Waves swept the West Coast Conference Singles and Doubles Players of the Week awards on Jan. 16.
Highlighting the doubles action, the nation’s #4 doubles team of Savannah Broadus and senior Janice Tjen kicked off the weekend in style, routing two ranked doubles teams and capping off the weekend with a come-from-behind, 7-5 win over #6 Ange Oby Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar of Oklahoma State.
In singles, graduate student Lisa Zaar looked sharp in her season debut, knocking off #2 Oby Kajuru in straight sets, then routing #38 Carly Briggs of Florida in a 6-2, 6-0 win. Zaar went 2-1 in singles with her lone loss coming at the hands of #13 Komar in a three-setter. Elsewhere, #21 Broadus went 2-1, highlighted by a three-set victory over #13 Komar in the semifinals of her draw.
Additionally, the Freeman Memorial Tournament marked the first collegiate singles wins for true freshmen Vivian Yang and Jasmine Conway. Both freshmen should make an immediate impact for the Waves this season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
As it will for Pepperdine, this weekend marks San Diego State’s first dual matches of the 2024 spring season.
Led by graduate transfer #114 Myah Petchey — who was teammates with Janice Tjen at Oregon from 2019-20 — the Aztecs have several newcomers this year. SDSU’s lineup is expected to have a new look after last year’s 14-8 campaign thanks to the additions of All Big-West Firs team selection Zoe Olmos (Cal State Fullerton), Gloria Alogo (North Texas) and Yasmine Kabbaj (FIU) — the latter of whom was a First Team All-C-USA selection last year. In fall singles play, only senior Andreea Velcea had a winning record (5-2), while two players were at .500.
Pepperdine leads the all-time series with the Aztecs by a 31-22 margin. The Waves have won the last three meetings between the two teams, who haven’t met since 2016.
On Saturday, Pepperdine will either face LSU or fellow West Coast Conference school LMU, depending on the results of both matches. The PCH Cup rivalry between Pepperdine and LMU needs no introduction; the two schools have met 45 times and Pepperdine has won 23 consecutive matches against its rival. Both teams last met in the WCC Tournament Champions after LMU upset San Diego, but the Waves rolled 4-0 to win the title.
The Lions are 0-1 this season with a 7-0 loss at USC last Thursday. No Lions are ranked in singles or doubles.
LSU, meanwhile, has a 2-0 record with wins over Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Louisiana this season. Atop the singles lineup is true freshman #56 Kinaa Graham — a blue-chip recruit who was the top player in the state of Texas last year. Graham went 12-5 in singles this fall and made it to the singles finals of the ITA Southern Regional before falling to Alabama’s Petra Sedlackova.
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