Feb. 14, 2012
Complete Results
LOS ANGELES - From start to finish it was a tightly contested battle, but in the end the #8-ranked UCLA men's tennis team edged #12 Pepperdine, 4-3.
In doubles, Sebastian Fanselow (Essen, German/Kaplan College Prep) and Jenson Turner (Woodland Hills, Calif./Campbell Hall HS) won on court two but the Bruins won on court three leaving the doubles point still up for grabs.
For the second consecutive match, the doubles point laid on the shoulders of Alex Llompart (Carolina, Puerto Rico/San Juan Educational School) and Finn Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) and the Waves' top duo did not disappoint. Down 6-7, Llompart and Tearney saved two match points to break serve and tie the match at seven.
Neither Llompart and Tearney or Nick Meister and Adrien Puget were able to hold serve so the pairs squared off in a tiebreaker. After jumping to a 4-1 lead, Llompart and Tearney won the tiebreaker 7-5 to give Pepperdine the advantage heading into singles.
The bottom of the Bruin's lineup came through to put the home team up 3-1 before Pepperdine's #1 and #2 singles players posted wins. Fanselow topped Meister 6-4, 6-3 before Tearney cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Clay Thompson.
Tied at three, all eyes fell to court three where Marcos Giron and Alex Llompart were deadlocked a one set apiece. In the final game, with Giron up in the set 5-4, the two were tied at deuce. Giron earned four match points that Llompart was able to erase before the Bruin capitalized on match point No. 5 to win the final set 6-4.
The Waves' schedule doesn't get any easier as the team travels to Charlottesville, Va. to compete at the ITA Indoor National Championship on Feb. 17-20. Pepperdine's first match is schedule for Friday (Feb. 17) against #5-ranked Florida. It will be the fifth-consecutive match against a top-10 team for Pepperdine.
#8 UCLA 4, #12 Pepperdine 3
Doubles
1. Alex Llompart/Finn Tearney (PEPP) def. Nick Meister/Adrien Puget (UCLA) 9-8 (7-5)
2. Sebastian Fanselow/Jenson Turner (PEPP) def. Alex Brigham/Marcos Giron (UCLA) 8-5
3. Warren Hardie/Clay Thompson (UCLA) def. Hugh Clarke/David Sofaer (PEPP) 8-4
Singles
1. #21 Sebastian Fanselow (PEPP) def. Nick Meister (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3
2. #35 Finn Tearney (PEPP) def. #72 Clay Thompson (UCLA) 6-2, 6-1
3. #86 Marcos Giron (UCLA) def. Alex Llompart (PEPP) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
4. Maxime Tabatruong (UCLA) def. #49 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEPP) 7-5, 6-2
5. #94 Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. Jenson Turner (PEPP) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
6. Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA) def. David Sofaer (PEPP) 6-2, 6-1
Match Notes
Pepperdine 3-4; National ranking #12
UCLA 8-0; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,4,5,1,2,3)
