April 11, 2011
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
MALIBU, Calif. - After a season of several ups, and a few downs, the Pepperdine men's tennis team's 2011 season came to a close. In one of the most evenly matched duals the #6-ranked Waves competed in all year, the visitors from UCLA edged the home team, 4-3.
The Waves finish with an 18-5 record, which includes 13 wins over ranked opponents. Pepperdine defeated two teams listed within the top-10 this season, including then-#4 Duke on March 11 and then-#7 Texas A&M a little over a week later.
"I've been coaching for 22 years and I don't believe I've ever had a more incredible group of guys," commented head coach Adam Steinberg following the match. "The way they have handled everything over the last couple weeks - there are no words.
"We accomplished the goals we set out for ourselves this year. We broke into the top-10 in the rankings. We beat a few teams ranked in the top-10. From where they were last year, to where they are now, I couldn't have asked for more out of this group."
Prior to the match, Steinberg introduced seniors Alejandro Moreno (Queretaro, Mexico) and Stuart Keplar (Dallas, Texas/Pearce Texas) to the large crowd that had gathered for Senior Day at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
Sebastian Turner (Essen, Germany) and Jenson Turner (Woodland Hills, Calif./Campbell Hall HS) ended their dual season with a 17-1 record after defeating Warren Hardie and Amit Inbar 8-2. Including tournament play, Fanselow and Turner were a team-best 21-3 overall in 2010-11.
After the Bruins claimed the win on court three, all eyes turned to court one where Finn Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand) and Alex Llompart (Carolina, Puerto Rico) were neck-and-neck with Alex Brigham and Adrien Puget. After 16 games had been played, and still no winner determined, the duos squared off in a seven-point tiebreaker.
Both teams battled back and forth until UCLA served up and ace to take a 6-5, match point lead. After Tearney let loose a rocket serve of his own, the return appeared to be going long. However, as the crowd watched the ball slowly fall, it clipped the end of the baseline to give the Bruins the match-winning point.
Trailing 0-1 heading into singles, the Waves knew they had a large hurdle to overcome. Mousheg Hovhannisyan put the first point on the board for the home team with a 6-3, 6-3 decision versus Maxime Tabatruong.
The Bruins took the advantage once again after winning on court three.
A short while later, two more matches finished at nearly the exact same time and with the exact same score. Fanselow came up on the winning side of a 7-6, 7-6 decision, while Alfredo Moreno (Queretaro, Mexico) lost a heartbreaker by the same score.
Sofaer lost his first set on court six against Holden Seguso, but battled from behind to force a third with a 7-5 second-set win. In the deciding set, Seguso emerged with a 6-2 win to give UCLA the dual-clinching point.
On court one, Tearney clashed with #33-ranked Daniel Kosakowski. After winning the first stanza 7-5, the Wave found himself down 3-5 in the second. Tearney continued to climb back, and eventually the set was put to the fate of the tiebreaker. While Kosakowski won 7-3 to win the second set, Tearney won the 10-point tiebreaker in the third set.
This concludes the 2011 dual season for the Waves. Individuals are still eligible for the NCAA singles and doubles championships, and brackets will be announced Wednesday, May 4.
#14 UCLA 4, #6 Pepperdine 3
Singles competition
1. #47 Finn Tearney (PEP) def. #33 Daniel Kosakowski (UCLA) 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 1-0 (10-7)
2. #22 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) def. #71 Amit Inbar (UCLA) 7-6, 7-6 (10-8)
3. Clay Thompson (UCLA) def. #62 Alex Llompart (PEP) 6-4, 6-4
4. Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. #114 Alfredo Moreno (PEP) 7-6, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Maxime Tabatruong (UCLA) 6-3, 6-3
6. Holden Seguso (UCLA) def. David Sofaer (PEP) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Alex Brigham/Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. #33 Hugh Clarke/Finn Tearney (PEP) 9-8 (7-5)
2. #54 Sebastian Fanselow/Jenson Turner (PEP) def. Warren Hardie/Amit Inbar (UCLA) 8-2
3. Daniel Kosakowski/Holden Seguso (UCLA) def. #52 Alex Llompart/Alfredo Moreno (PEP) 8-5
Match Notes:
UCLA 14-5; National ranking #14
Pepperdine 18-5; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,5,4,2,6,1)
