Oct. 8, 2004

MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine's Pedro Rico continued his push toward the finals at the Icy Hot ITA All American Friday morning with a three set victory in the Round of 16 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Waves' doubles team of Rico and Scott Doerner came up short in its attempt to move on in the same round.

With today's 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Duke's Ludovic Walter, the Alicante, Spain native has successfully advanced to the tournaments quarterfinals. This marks the deepest round into the ITA All American Tournament a Pepperdine athlete has ever advanced.

"It was a hard fought match," commented Head Coach Adam Steinberg. "Pedro really played well and we are every excited for him and his chances to continue on in this tournament."

Rico entered the singles' main draw as the No. 8 seed.

The doubles team of Rico and Doerner was not as fortunate in today's round of 16 match as it fell to Ohio State's duo of Scott Green and Ross Wilson, 8-4.

Rico will return to the court Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. (PDT) to take on the tournament's top-seeded player Catalin Gard (Mississippi). Gard has yet to lose a game through the first three rounds of competition.

Complete results can be found at www.itatennis.com.