March 26, 2005

Malibu, Calif. - No. 13 Pepperdine rode its momentum from Friday's upset of Illinois into Saturday's match with No. 17 Texas A&M at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. Again proving that they are among the elite teams in the nation the Waves took a convincing 6-1 win over the Aggies.

A doubles sweep provided the push Pepperdine was looking for as it went on to win five singles matches, improving to 14-2 along the way. The loss drops Texas A&M to 7-4.

Jonas Berg recovered from his loss yesterday to put the Waves up 2-0 on Saturday. His straight-set 6-2, 6-2 victory over Brett Joelson gives the Swede an 11-3 dual match singles record this spring.

On court one No. 51 Scott Doerner rolled to 6-2, 7-5 win over 12th-ranked Jerry Makowski, while the other four singles courts moved into third sets.

After winning their first sets Pedro Rico, Richard Johnson and Alexis Rafidison all faltered in the second giving the Aggies some breathing room. All three Waves showed their grit in the deciding sets, but it was No. 16 Rico who would secure the victory.

After losing the second set 7-5, Rico broke Ante Matijevic's serve in three different games go up 5-2 in the third. Serving for the match, Rico played with his customary passion and capped off the win with a service ace.

For A&M, Yevgeny Supeko survived losing the second set tiebreaker and bounced back to defeat Ivor Lovrak 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1.

The Waves will put their 9-0 home record on the line again Friday when they play host to No. 51 Brown University at 1:00 p.m.

No. 13 Pepperdine 6, No. 17 Illinois 1

SINGLES

1. (#51) Scott Doerner, Pep def. (#12) Jerry Makowski, A&M, 6-2, 7-5

2. (#16) Pedro Rico, Pep def. Ante Matijevic, A&M, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2

3. Jonas Berg, Pep def. Brett Joelson, A&M, 6-2, 6-2

4. Ricardo Johnson, Pep def. (#85) Bryan Wooten, A&M, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5

5. Yevgeny Supeko, A&M def. Ivor Lovrak, Pep, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1

6. Alex Rafidison, Pep def. Mohamed Dakki, A&M, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

DOUBLES (Pepperdine wins the point)

1. (#14) Doerner/Rico, Pep def. (#31) Joelson/Matijevic, A&M, 8-4

2. (#40) Berg/Lovrak, Pep def. Matt Bain/Wooten, A&M, 9-7

3. Kevin Borzenski/Johnson, Pep def. Zack Malmgren/Makowski, A&M, 8-4

Order of Finish: D1, D3, D2; S3, S1, S2*, S6, S4, S5

* clinched match