MALIBU, Calif. – The #15 Pepperdine women's tennis team returns home to take on #45 California on Saturday in a Malibu matchup.
 
DUAL MATCH #8: #15 Pepperdine (4-3) vs #45 Cal (1-1) | Saturday, February 22^nd | 12 p.m. | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif.
 
COVERAGE: Live stats and streaming will be available via PepperdineWaves.com as well as live scoring updates on Twitter @WavesTennis.
 
ON CAL
Having only played two matches so far this season, the #45 Bears dropped a match 4-1 to then 20^th-ranked Virginia in January, when Cal was ranked above the Cavaliers at #16. The Bears rebounded quick, however, defeating then #19 Kansas 4-3 to close out the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
 
Cal is home to #13 Haley Giavara, #28 Valentina Ivanov and #50 Julia Rosenqvist in the ITA singles rankings, as well as ranked doubles in #25 Giavara and Anna Bright.
 
The Waves are 8-34 all-time against Cal, as Pepperdine broke a 14-game losing streak to the Bears in 2018 with a 6-1 win. Last season, the Waves went 1-1 with Cal, losing a nail-biter in regular season play at 4-3. The ladies righted themselves in the post-season, however, where Pepperdine saw a 4-0 blanking of the Bears in the second round of NCAA Tournament action back in May of 2019.
 
SURF REPORT
Pepperdine currently stands 4-3 on the season after defeating Oklahoma 5-2 and then dropping a 4-3 heartbreaker to then #14 Oklahoma State last weekend. In the loss, the Waves faltered in doubles but surged back in singles, where #2 Ashley Lahey defeated #62 Lisa Maria Rioux 6-4, 6-3 and #45 Anastasia Iamachkine beat the #56 Ayumi Miyamoto 6-1, 6-2.
 
WAVES IN THE RANKS
After a loss in the ITA Indoor Championships, senior Ashley Lahey was bumped out of the top spot in the rankings as she now sits at #2 in the country behind Miami's Estela Perez-Somarriba. Despite going undefeated last weekend, Anastasia Iamachkine also slipped to #45, while Jessica Failla and Lisa Zaar fell out of this week's rankings.
 
UP NEXT
The #15 Waves will invite the #3 Texas Longhorns to Malibu for a lunch matinee on Friday, February 28.