Final Stats

PHOTO GALLERY | RESULTSMALIBU, CALIF.: The Pepperdine men's tennis team dominated Wells Fargo PCH Cup rivals Loyola Marymount to open West Coast Conference play this Saturday afternoon, sweeping the Lions 7-0 at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.

The Waves first clinched doubles with wins by the one and three pairs, and Pepperdine picked up solid two set victories on courts two, three and the clinch by freshman Dane Esses (Houston, Texas/Memorial HS) on six to secure the overall win. Singles one, four and five then picked up wins of their own to complete the sweep.

To open the day with doubles, the Waves dominated doubles play, collecting wins on courts one and three to earn the doubles point and go up 1-0 on the day. Senior Stefan Menichella (Santa Barbara, Calif./University HS) and sophomore Jack Van Slyke (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Laurel Springs HS (Calif.)) opened the day in the number one doubles position with a 6-2 victory over Lukas Moenter and Gabriel Diaz Freire.

Then, senior Tom Hill (Birmingham, England/K12 International Academy) and junior Pedro Iamachkine (Lima, Peru/Nebraska HS) followed by clinching the doubles point with a 6-4 win from the number three position over the Lions Nick Borchenko and Alex Bourgeois.

With the 1-0 edge heading into singles, Pepperdine worked ahead early. Menichella was the first to strike once again, downing Moenter with a big 6-1, 6-0 decision on court two. On court three, Iamachkine put the Waves within clinching distance after downing LMU's Gabriel Diaz Freire with a 6-2, 6-0 victory on court three.

With four courts still in action, it was anyone's clinch to take and the privilege would fall on freshman Esses in his dual debut for Pepperdine. He faced the Lion's Ryan Brown, collecting a 6-1 first set win to pull ahead early. Then, he bested his opponent 6-2 in the second set to clinch the win for his team.

The Waves continued on with the sweep with three-set victory by senior Guilherme Hadlich (Balneário Camboriú, Brazil/Colégio Energia) as he bested Nick Borchenko 6-2, 2-6, 10-5 in the number one position.

Sophomores Gabriel Sidney (Curitiba, Parana, Brazil/Anglo Americano) and Van Slyke also won in singles, with Sidney closing his match first with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 win over Alex Bourgeois. Van Slyke ended the match for the Waves' sweep after picking up a 6-4, 6-3 win on court four over Luke Bohuslav.

Next, the Waves will take on Tulane, a team receiving votes in the Oracle/ITA rankings in Berkeley, Calif. on Jan. 28 and 29 for the ITA Kick-Off hosted by California. Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates and go to PepperdineWaves.com for full recaps, results and more.