#6 Waves Crush Gonzaga for 7th-Straight Title

Saturday, April 27

Claremont, Calif.

10 a.m. PT

Pepperdine University

Gonzaga (WCC Final)

Photo by: Morgan Davenport

4/27/2019 1:26:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Final Stats

By: by Athletic Communications

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The 22-time West Coast Conference Champion #6 Pepperdine women's tennis team added yet another championship under their belt on Saturday, beating Gonzaga 4-1 to become the 2019 WCC Tournament Champions for the seventh year in a row.

Named to the All-Tournament Teams were the doubles pair of Adrijana Lekaj and Dzina Milovanovic and singles players Lekaj, #53 Jessica Failla and Anastasia Iamachkine.

The win puts the #6 Waves at 21-3 overall, where they have won 18-straight matches in a row on the way to a 22^nd WCC Tournament title. The last time Pepperdine lost in the tournament was in 2008, where even then they lost in the finals.

Under head coach Per Nilsson, the Waves have never lost in the WCC Tournament as he has led the team to five-straight championships since his hiring in 2014.

RESULTS
#6 Pepperdine 4, Gonzaga 1
Singles
1. #10 Sophie Whittle (GON) def #36 Ashley Lahey (PEPP) – 6-2, 6-3
2. #96 Adrijana Lekaj (PEPP) def Graciela Rosas (GON) – 6-4, 6-1
3. #53 Jessica Failla (PEPP) def Domonique Garley (GON) – 6-4, 6-3
4. Dzina Milovanovic (PEPP) vs Vlada Medvedcova (GON) – 5-7, 4-1, unfinished
5. Daria Kuczer (PEPP) vs Haruna Tsuruta (GON) – 6-4, 5-0, unfinished
6. Anastasia Iamachkine (PEPP) def Kate Ketels (GON) – 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 1, 3, 2*

Doubles
1. Whittle/Rosas (GON) def #34 Failla/Iamachkine (PEPP) – 6-1
2. Lahey/Kuczer (PEPP) def Tsuruta/Ketels (GON) – 6-3
3. Lekaj/Milovanovic (PEPP) def Garley/Komer (GON) – 6-2)
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2*

RECAP
The #6 Waves split on courts one and three in doubles play, where Dzina Milovanovic and Adrijana Lekaj earned a 6-2 win over Gonzaga's Garley and Komer to put the pressure on court two for the doubles point. Ashley Lahey and Daria Kuczer felt none of it, however, quieting a Bulldog run and defeating Tsuruta and Ketels 6-3 to clinch the point and put Pepperdine up 1-0.

Pepperdine came out with a vengeance in singles, as Anastasia Iamachkine took no time in defeating Kate Ketels, 6-1, 6-0 to finish first. With the Waves up 2-0, #53 Jessica Failla bested Domonique Garely 6-4, 6-3 on court three.
Pepperdine needed only one more court to clinch, and it was a race between Kuczer and #96 Lekaj as to who would claim the point. Lekaj beat Kuczer to the punch, defeating Graciela Rosas 6-4, 6-1 while officially clinching the match, 4-1.

NEXT UP
The #6 Waves await NCAA Tournament seeding, which will be released on Monday, April 29th at 3:30 p.m. Pepperdine has a chance to host the regional at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center beginning on Friday, May 4^th and Saturday the 5^th. Keep up to date with the Waves on social media and check periodically on PepperdineWaves.com.