Feb. 19, 2017 Final Stats
RESULTS | PHOTO GALLERYMALIBU, CALIF.: The Pepperdine men's tennis team dominated the competition this Sunday at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, sweeping UC Irvine 7-0 including two-set wins on all singles courts.
The short two-hour match began with Pepperdine winning the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. Then, the Waves rolled over the Anteaters in singles to close out the match with the sweep.
"I'm very pleased with the way the team competed from the beginning in doubles and how they were able to carry over the momentum into singles," said head coach Marcelo Ferreira. "All six players played with confidence and determination to cross the finish line and put a point on the scoreboard.
"It's always good to get a convincing win like the one today in order to build up momentum so we can go into our Florida trip with a positive mind-set and the confidence that we can come back with very good results."
Senior Stefan Menichella (Santa Barbara, Calif./University HS) and sophomore Jack Van Slyke (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Laurel Springs HS (Calif.)) earned the first win of the afternoon with a big 6-1 victory over Luca Marquard and Bruce Man-Son-Hing on court one.
Junior duo Pedro Iamachkine (Lima, Peru/Nebraska HS) and Lautaro Pane (Puerto Madryn, Argentina/SEADEA) then clinched the doubles point with a commanding 6-2 victory over Derek Chen and Vatsal Bajpai on court three to send the Waves into singles play with the edge.
Pepperdine made quick work of UC Irvine in singles, opening the action with a 6-0, 6-2 win from Iamachkine on court three over Mason Hansen. Van Slyke then extended the Waves' lead with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Man-Son-Hing on court five to put the home team one-point away from the clinch.
Menichella was up to the task on court two, dominating his first set with Luis Lopez 6-0. He then clinched the overall win for Pepperdine with a 6-2 second set victory.
As the coaches elected to play the match out, the three matches still in action were played to completion. Freshman Dane Esses (Houston, Texas/Memorial HS) was the first to finish on court six, defeating Andrew Gong 6-3, 6-2.
The Waves' 102nd-ranked senior Guilherme Hadlich (Balneário Camboriú, Brazil/Colégio Energia) bested Luca Marquard on court one with a 6-3, 6-4 final result and Pane completed the 7-0 sweep with a 6-2, 7-5 win on court four over Bajpai.
Next, Pepperdine heads to Tallahassee and Tampa to challenge Florida State and South Florida on February 24 and 26. The match at Florida State will air live on ESPN3. Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates and go to PepperdineWaves.com for full recaps, results and more.
