MALIBU, Calif. – The 16^th-ranked Pepperdine women's tennis team will play host to the likes of T-50^th UCSB and #15 Michigan this weekend as Ashley Lahey is back in the saddle at the #1 spot for singles in this week's ITA poll.
 
DUAL MATCH #11: #16 Pepperdine (6-4) vs T-#50 UCSB (5-6) | Friday, March 6^th | 1 p.m. PT | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif.
 
DUAL MATCH #12: #16 Pepperdine (6-4) vs #15 Michigan (5-5) | Saturday, March 7^th | 12 p.m. PT | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif.
 
COVERAGE: Both matches will be streamed live on PepperdineWaves.com and live scoring updates will periodically be available on Twitter @WavesTennis.
 
ON THE BRONCHOS
Currently 5-6, the Bronchos are tied for 50^th in the ITA rankings with Auburn. UCSB has accrued notable wins over #32 San Diego, Texas Christian and San Francisco. All-time against UCSB, the Waves stand 31-7 as Pepperdine came out on top during the last meeting with a 6-1 win at home.
 
ON THE WOLVERINES
#15 Michigan is at an even .500 at 5-5 overall this season. With wins over #11 Princeton (4-2), #24 Florida (4-0) and #12 UCF (4-2), the Wolverines have certainly made their case in the ITA rankings, but most recently dropped a 4-2 match to #6 Texas- who Pepperdine defeated 7-0 last weekend.
 
Ranked in singles for Michigan are Giulia Pairone at #30, Andrea Cerdan at #68 and Alyvia Jones at #93.
 
SURF REPORT
Last weekend, the #16 Waves picked apart then-#4 Texas at Ralphs-Straus, blanking the Longhorns 7-0. #35 Jessica Failla defeated the #3 player in the ITA rankings in Anna Turati by a score of 6-3, 6-1 on court two to clinch for Pepperdine at 4-0, while current #1 overall Ashley Lahey defeated #26 Bianca Turati on court one.
 
The matched proved to be taxing for the Waves, however, as they fell to then-#8, now-#3 UCLA 3-4 the next day. Lahey again made her case for No. 1 as she defeated UCLA's #12 Elysia Bolton 6-0, 6-4.
 
In addition to #1 Lahey and #35 Failla, two-time WCC Player of the Week Anastasia Iamachkine clocked into this week's ITA poll at #33, as Failla and Iamachkine appeared in the doubles rankings at #55.
 
UP NEXT
The #16 Waves will invite #37 USC to Malibu for a 12 p.m. start on Saturday, March 14^th.