UPCOMING — The No. 18 Pepperdine men’s tennis team (14-8) travels to Northern California to meet the California Golden Bears in a make-up match.

Next Monday,(April 13) is Senior Day at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. The Waves will honor Omar Altmann as he plays his last home match of his collegiate career against UCLA. Free Pizza for all the fans.

The No. 44 Golden Bears (9-7) are coming off a 4-2 upset victory over No. 20 Arizona. California boasts the No. 81 nationally ranked singles player, Pedro Zerbini, as well as the No. 13 ranked doubles-team of Geoff Chiverez/Eoin Heavey.

Head coach Peter Wright is in his 16th season with the Golden Bears.

SAN DIEGO STATE RECAP — When the team score is 3-3, Alex Moreno has proven that he’s the player you want in that final match. Moreno clinched his third match of the season on Thursday to give No. 18 Pepperdine a 4-3 victory over No. 37 San Diego State.

The Waves (14-8) swept the doubles competition with wins on all three courts. The No. 10 duo of Omar Altmann/Bassam Beidas (23-3) are on a six match winning streak with a 8-4 victory over No. 57 Achim Cebam/Giovanni Vaglietti (SDSU). Stuart Keplar/Alex Llompart finished second on court 3 with an 8-4 win over Juan Gomez/Luis Rattenberger (SDSU). Hugh Clarke/Mahmoud Kamel defeated Tim Endert van Schulz/Bartosz/Golas (SDSU) 8-5, on court 3 to complete the sweep.

In singles the Aztecs (11-7) claimed the first point with Edert van Schulz (SDSU) defeating Clarke, 6-2, 6-1, on court 5 to tie the match at 1-1. No. 32 Beidas was the next finisher with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Achim Cebam (SDSU) on court 1. The Waves were up 2-1. Llompart followed suit on court 3 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Juan Gomez (SDSU). Pepperdine led 3-1. San Diego State came back with Vaglietti (SDSU)i defeating Kamel, 6-1, 7-5 on court 4 and Golas (SDSU) upsetting No. 43 Altmann on court 2, 6-1, 0-6, 6-2. The score was tied 3-3.

The spectators and both teams moved to court 6 to watch the determining match unfold in its final set as the players had split 5-7, 6-1. With his adrenaline flowing from the encouragement of his teammates and supporters, Moreno handily won the third set over Andre Feliz, 6-2, to clinch the match for the Waves.

PEPPERDINE IN THE POLLS — The Waves are No. 18 for the third straight week according to the latest ITA national rankings.

MARCH WCC PLAYERS OF THE MONTH — Bassam Beidas/Omar Altmann earned WCC Men's Tennis Doubles Players of the Month for March. The duo went 7-1 for the month at No. 1 doubles with wins over the No. 6 and No. 15 ranked doubles teams in the country. Beidas was named WCC Men's Tennis Singles Player of the Month along with Dean Jackson of San Diego. Beidas went  6-2 for the month of March at the No. 1 singles position.

 ITA INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS — Bassam Beidas (Cairo, Egypt) holds the No. 32 ranking in singles while teammate Omar Altmann (Cairo, Egypt) is ranked No. 43.

ALTMANN/BEIDAS — The doubles team of Omar Altmann and Bassam Beidas is ranked No. 14 in the nation with a 20-3 record.

2008 ALL AMERICANS — Andre Begemann (Blomberg, Germany) and Bassam Beidas were named as 2008 All-Americans after finishing in the top 16 at the NCAA Nationals. Begemann made it to the semi-finals, while Beidas reached the quarterfinals.

COACH STEINBERG — Coach Adam Steinberg is in his seventh year as head coach. His 2006 Waves won the national championship. His team has won six WCC championships and has made six NCAA Tournament appearances. In 2006 he was named National Coach of the Year and has been named WCC Coach of the Year three times.

Coach Steinberg has had 10 players named All-American and have been All-WCC first team selections 16 times in singles and 10 times in doubles. A Pepperdine athlete has been named WCC Player of the Year in each of his seven seasons.

COACH CARLESS — Coach Nick Carless begins his second season as assistant coach. Coach Carless began his

career at Pepperdine as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2006 national championship team. He spent one year at Northwestern University as an assistant coach in 2006-07, before returning to Malibu.

PEPPERDINE HISTORY — Pepperdine men’s tennis was first established in 1940. The team’s all-time WCC record is 985-331. The Waves have won a total of 38 WCC Tournament titles and are on an 17 title streak. Pepperdine has made 33 NCAA appearances with the last being in 2008. The Waves have made a showing in the last 19 NCAA tournaments.

WAVES IN THE PRO’S — Pepperdine has produced remarkably talented players who moved on to professional careers as players and coaches. Three-time All-American Andre Begemann is the most recent to turn professional after graduating from Pepperdine in August, 2008. He is currently ranked No. 426 in the world and continues to move-up.

Brad Gilbert and Glenn Michibata are two of the most well-known players who came about in the 1980’s. A 1982 All-American, Gilbert has been ranked as high as No. 4 in the world in 1990. As a coach, Gilbert is known as one of the best guiding both Andre Agassi and Any Roddick to Grand Slam titles. A three-time All-American, Michibata spent 10 years as a professional and climbed as high as No. 48 in 1986. He is currently in his ninth year as head coach at Princeton.

Robbie Weiss holds the distinction of being Pepperdine’s lone NCAA singles champion in 1988, turned pro and was a top 100 player. In 2008, Weiss was inducted into the ITA Hall of Fame as well as the Pepperdine Hall of Fame. Kelly Jones was a part of both of Pepperdine’s NCAA doubles titles and as a professional, Jones achieved the No. 1 doubles ranking with Rick Leach in 1992. He was a finalist in three Grand Slam doubles events, including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.

Simon Aspelin (1994-97) of Sweden was a four-time All-American and has won 10 career titles and was part of the 2007 U.S. Open winning doubles team. Aspelin and Swiss teammate Thomas Johansson took home the silver medal at the 2008 Bejing Olympics after being defeated by Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the finals.