Pepperdine University
Saint Mary's
Waves Dominate Saint Mary's to Open Doubleheader Saturday
4/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 9, 2011
MALIBU, Calif. - The #6 Pepperdine men's tennis team opened Saturday's doubleheader with a 7-0 win over West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary's to improve to 17-4 on the season. The Waves return for their second match of the day at 3 p.m. versus Sacramento State.
The doubles point proved to be quite a battle, with all three matches decided by a single break. Sebastian Fanselow (Essen, Germany/Kaplan Prep) and Jenson Turner (Woodland Hill, Calif./Campbell Hall HS) remained undefeated when playing in the top match after topping Maxime Olivan and Gavin Leon 8-6.
Brothers Alfredo Moreno and Alejandro Moreno (Queretaro, Mexico/JFK School) were deadlocked at seven games all with Steven Dawson-Roberts and Joakim Norstrom, but a late break put the Pepperdine pair up 8-7. The Waves served their way to victory with an ace at match point to win 9-7.
Down 7-5, Alex Llompart (Carolina, Puerto Rico/San Juan Educational School) and Mousheg Hovhannisyan (North Hollywood, Continental HS) battled back to tie the match at seven but Lucas Tirelli and Saad Benkirane eventually edged the Waves 9-7.
Pepperdine shined in singles, winning all seven matches. Hovhannisyan was the first to finish, with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Benkirane. Hugh Clarke (Brisbane, Australia/Brisbane Boys College) won his first set in the tiebreaker before riding the momentum to a 6-0 second-set win versus Norstrom to put the Waves up 3-0.
Fanselow gave the home team the dual-clinching point with a 6-2, 7-5 from court one. Turner followed suit with a 6-4, 6-0 win on court six.
Llompart and Alfredo Moreno both split the first two frames, but both won by a score of 10-7 in the tiebreaker set.
Following this afternoon's tangle with the Hornets, Pepperdine concludes the season on Monday, April 11 versus UCLA.
#6 Pepperdine 7, Saint Mary's College 0
Singles competition
1. #22 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) def. Maxime Olivan (SMC) 6-2, 7-5
2. #62 Alex Llompart (PEP) def. Lucas Tirelli (SMC) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)
3. #114 Alfredo Moreno (PEP) def. Sherif Hamdy (SMC) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7)
4. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Saad Benkirane (SMC) 6-4, 6-3
5. Hugh Clarke (PEP) def. Joakim Norstrom (SMC) 7-6 (7-3), 6-0
6. Jenson Turner (PEP) def. Gavin Leon (SMC) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #54 Sebastian Fanselow/Jenson Turner (PEP) def. Gavin Leon/Maxime Olivan (SMC) 8-6
2. Lucas Tirelli/Saad Benkirane (SMC) def. Mousheg Hovhannisyan/Alex Llompart (PEP) 9-7
3. Alfredo Moreno/Alejandro Moreno (PEP) def. Steven Daws.-Roberts/Joakim Norstrom (SMC) 9-7
Match Notes:
Saint Mary's College 11-8, 3-2 WCC
Pepperdine 17-4, 4-0 WCC; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,5,1,6,2,3)
Players Mentioned
