Feb. 17, 2005
Malibu, Calif. - Following last week's upset of the University of Washington, the Pepperdine men's tennis team (5-1) has climbed seven spots in the most recent edition of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's team rankings for Div. I men. The Waves are back in action this weekend at home against New Mexico and Arizona.
New Mexico comes in at No. 65 in the current poll and comes to Malibu with a 1-2 record. The Lobos are coming off a 4-3 win against No. 46 Michigan State on January 29. New Mexico's last loss came at the hands of Washington by a 5-2 count. Pepperdine will take on New Mexico at 1:00 p.m. on Friday.
On Sunday the Waves will play host to the 34th-ranked Arizona Wildcats. UA is 5-3 on the year having dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 32 California in their last outing. The 1:00 p.m. match will see another showdown between Pepperdine's No. 13 Pedro Rico and Arizona's 58th-ranked Roger Matalonga. The two Spaniards last met on January 16, 2005 in the championship match at the National Tennis Collegiate Classic. Rico took the match and his first college tournament win, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Both New Mexico and Arizona boast doubles pair ranked in the Top 20. The Lobos come in with No. 3 Ryan Stotland and David Kowalski, while the Wildcats will put 18th-ranked Colin O'Grady and Matalonga in their number one spot. Both teams will be solid tests for Pepperdine's top combo of Rico and Scott Doerner. The 26th-ranked team is 6-0 in dual matches this year and hasn't lost since they faced O'Grady/Matalonga in the semifinals of the ITA Regional Championships in October.
Doerner will also be in singles action as he is one of, if not the, hottest player in college tennis right now. The No. 88 Doerner will surely move towards the top of the next singles poll as he currently boasts a 6-0 mark in dual match singles and is coming off a 7-5, 6-3 win over No. 9 Alex Slovic at Washington last week.
The Wildcats and the Lobos will also face each other while here in Malibu. Their match is slated for 1:00 p.m. Saturday.
