Pepperdine University
Tulsa
Waves Defeat Tulsa 4-1, Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals
5/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 18, 2012
ATHENS, Ga.- Although #20 Tulsa won the doubles point, the #7 Pepperdine men's tennis team fired back in singles to win 4-1 and advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. This is the third time in the Adam Steinberg era the Waves have reached the quarterfinals, and the first since the 2006 season.
The Waves (26-6) won match No. 23 in a row, and have now tallied three dual match wins despite losing the doubles point.
"We haven't lost a doubles point since February, and today was kind of a shock to us," remarked Steinberg after the match. "It took us a while to get that fight back in the singles against a very good team. It's definitely a goal to win that doubles point, it's such a momentum thing."
It was an emotionally charged start of the match, with two of the three matches decided by a single break or in the tiebreaker.
Hugh Clarke (Brisbane, Australia/Brisbane Boys College) and David Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia/Sydney Distance Education HS), who have been consistent all season long, won their 18th straight to give the early advantage to the Waves. The duo defeated Japie De Klerk and Alejandro Espejo, 8-3 to improve to 23-3 on the season.
Pepperdine's No. 1 team of Finn Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) and Alex Llompart (Carolina, Puerto Rico/San Juan Educational School) fell behind a break to Clifford Marsland and Ashley Watling early on but were able to get it back to tie the match at 5-all. The Golden Hurricane broke serve again the very next game to regain the lead and, despite a solid effort by the Waves to force a tiebreaker, was able to hold on for the 8-6 win.
Similar to the No. 1 match, Sebastian Fanselow (Essen, Germany/Kaplan College Prep) and Jenson Turner (Woodland Hills, Calif./Campbell Hall HS) found themselves down a break with Tulsa serving for the match. Down 30-40, Turner came up with an overhead smash to knot the score at deuce. The duo fell behind match point two more times but strong play at the net erased the disadvantage as they went on to win and force a tiebreaker.
Although Fanselow and Turner took a 4-2 lead, Grant Ive and Tristan Jackson strung together a 5-0 run to win the tiebreaker and clinch the point.
Pepperdine regrouped and started out strong in singles, winning four of the six first sets. The momentum never fully tilted in the Waves' favor, however, as Tulsa won sets on courts five and six and additionally took early second-set leads in the other four matches.
After nearly three hours of play, Mousheg Hovhannisyan (North Hollywood, Calif./Continental Academy) put the Waves on the board with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Ive.
Tearney got off to a hot start, taking the first set from Marsland 6-2, before dropping the second set by the same score. The junior rallied back, however, and gave Pepperdine a 2-1 advantage after winning the deciding frame 6-2.
Llompart, playing from the No. 3 spot in the lineup, took on #77-ranked Watling and emerged with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Playing side-by-side on adjacent courts, both Turner and Clarke had fallen behind a set. Clarke fought back from a 3-5 deficit in the second frame to win 7-5 and take the match to a third set.
Simultaneously, Turner took set two 6-3 and jumped to a 5-0 lead in the third. Although Espejo was able to win the next two games, Turner came through and held serve put the Waves out of reach, 4-1.
Fanselow was up a set versus De Klerk when play was suspended.
The Waves' quarterfinal match with #3-ranked Georgia (second seed overall) is scheduled for Sunday, May 20 at 1 p.m. (PT) on the Henry Feild courts of the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The Bulldogs knocked out #15 North Carolina, 4-0. Fans can find links to the live scores and the live video stream (courts 1-6) at the Tournament Central.
"Since I've been (at Pepperdine), we haven't made it to the sweet 16, so we're just pumped to be here," said Turner. "Getting to the quarters in just unreal. Our goal is to win it, but it's a great thing is to play Georgia at Georgia."
#7 Pepperdine 4, #20 Tulsa 1
Singles
1. #8 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) vs. #117 Japie De Klerk (TLS) 6-4, 5-6, unfinished
2. #30 Finn Tearney (PEP) def. #97 Clifford Marsland (TLS) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
3. Alex Llompart (PEP) def. #77 Ashley Watling (TLS) 6-4, 6-4
4. #109 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Grant Ive (TLS) 6-3, 6-4
5. Hugh Clarke (PEP) vs. Tristan Jackson (TLS) 3-6, 7-5, 5-0, unfinished
6. Jenson Turner (PEP) def. Alejandro Espejo (TLS) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
1. #11 Clifford Marsland/Ashley Watling (TLS) def. #15 Alex Llompart/Finn Tearney (PEP) 8-6
2. Grant Ive/Tristan Jackson (TLS) def. Jenson Turner/Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) 9-8 (7-4)
3. Hugh Clarke/David Sofaer (PEP) def. Japie De Klerk/Alejandro Espejo (TLS) 8-3
Match Notes:
Tulsa 20-9; National ranking #20
Pepperdine 26-6; National ranking #7
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,2,3,6)
Players Mentioned
