Feb. 9, 2005

Malibu, CA - The No. 24 Pepperdine men's tennis team improved to 4-1 by beating UC Irvine at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center Wednesday afternoon. The Waves were led by a doubles sweep and singles wins by Pedro Rico, Scott Doerner, Jonas Berg and Richard Johnson. The 73rd-ranked Anteaters drop to 1-4.

The doubles team of Doerner/Rico came back from a 3-5 deficit to maintain their perfect record. Winning five consecutive games, the team beat Irvine's Brian Morton and Ryusuke Kashiwabara, 8-5.

In singles, Pepperdine sophomore Richard Johnson quickly dismissed Olof Sjolund, 6-0, 6-0 in the #5 position. Doerner followed with a convincing win of his own, taking the #2 point, 6-2, 6-1. Following UCI's wins on courts four and six the Waves needed a victory from Pedro Rico or Jonas Berg to take the match.

Responding to the pressure both Berg and Rico secured three-set victories for the 5-2 win. The freshman Berg clinched Pepperdine's fourth point and the match win with his 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Victor Lam. Down 2-3 in the third, Berg won four games in a row outlasting his opponent.

The number one match had all the makings of an upset, until the 13th-ranked Rico seized control on the court late in the second set. With the match not yet clinched at the time, Rico forced a second set tiebreaker with top Anteater Brian Morton. Rico was flawless, winning the set's 13th game, 7-0 behind five winners. Rico kept pressure on Morton in the third as the set was tied at two games apiece when Berg's win clinched Pepperdine's win. After that Rico rolled through four straight games taking the third set, 6-2.

Pepperdine goes to Seattle this weekend for a showdown with the No. 14 Washington Huskies, Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

Pepperdine 5, UC Irvine 2

Doubles

1. Rico/Doerner (Pepp) def. Morton/Kashiwabara, 8-5

2. Berg/Lovrak (Pepp) def. Lamm/Surapol, 8-2

3. Borzenski/Johnson (Pepp) def. Ellis/Ulukan, 8-2

Singles

1. Pedro Rico (Pepp) def. Brian Morton, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2

2. Scott Doerner (Pepp) def. Ryusuke Kashiwabara, 6-2, 6-1

3. Jonas Berg (Pepp) def. Victor Lamm, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3

4. Peter Surapol (UCI) def. Ivor Lovrak, 6-4, 6-4

5. Richard Johnson (Pepp) def. Olof Sjolund, 6-0, 6-0

6. Mustafa Ulukan (UCI) def. Kevin Borzenski, 7-5, 6-4