Waves' Comeback Falls Short

Sunday, February 7

Stillwater, Okla.

1:30 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

UCLA

Photo by: Jeff Golden

2/7/2021 7:38:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: by Athletic Communications

STILLWATER, Okla. – After a tumultuous day of matches, the fifth-ranked Pepperdine women's tennis team pushed #2 UCLA to its limits but ultimately fell 4-2 in their final contest of the 2021 ITA Indoors.

33^rd-ranked Jessica Failla earned a second win over a top-15 opponent this weekend after defeating Georgia Tech's #13 Kenya Jones on Friday and #7 Abbey Forbes of UCLA Sunday. Failla was on her way to beating #3 Alexa Graham on Saturday, but a clinch point halted play.

RESULTS
#2 UCLA 4, #5 Pepperdine 2
DOUBLES
1. Hart/Bolton (UCLA) vs Failla/Fukuda (PEPP) – 4-3
2. Goulak/Wolff (UCLA) def. Olsen/Redelijk (PEPP) – 6-1
3. Johnson/Altick (UCLA) def. Zaar/Pachkaleva (PEPP) – 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 3

SINGLES
1. #33 Jessica Failla (PEPP) def. #7 Abbey Forbes (UCLA) – 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4
2. #9 Elysia Bolton (UCLA) def. #12 Shiori Fukuda (PEPP) - 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3)
3. #19 Jada Hart (UCLA) def. #45 Lexi Ryngler (PEPP) – 6-2, 6-3
4. #88 Taisiya Pachkaleva (PEPP) def. Vivian Wolff (UCLA) – 6-2, 6-1
5. Lisa Zaar (PEPP) vs Abi Altick (UCLA) – 2-6, 7-6(5), 5-3, unfinished
6. Annette Goulak (UCLA) def. Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) – 7-6(7), 6-1
Order of finish: 4, 3, 6, 1, 2

RECAP
The first two dual matches of the day went to 4-3 decisions, pushing back the Waves 1:30 p.m. start time to around 3:30 p.m. Upon first serve, it was UCLA who struck first, winning the doubles point on courts two and three.

On court four, freshman Taisiya Pachkaleva took little time in defeating UCLA's Vivian Wolff in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Following two Waves losses on courts three and six, scoring stalled for bit as Lisa Zaar, Shiori Fukuda and Jessica Failla all pushed their matches to three sets.

#33 Failla achieved her second upset of the week, beating the likes of #7 Abbey Forbes on court one. Failla relinquished the first set but stormed back in the second, forcing a tie break and going 7-6(4). Heading into the third, the Ramona, California native sprinted out in front, finishing Forbes off at 6-4 to give the Waves their second team point.

On court two, #12 Fukuda brought her match to a tie-breaking third set, but couldn't complete the win as she dropped to #9 Elysia Bolton 7-6(3), clinching the match for the Bruins.

Zaar was on her way to another Waves win on court six, falling in her first set but redeeming herself in the second by way of a 7-6(5) tie break. Zaar was up 5-3 in her third set before abandoning the match due to the UCLA clinch point.

UP NEXT
On Saturday, the Waves will welcome #17 USC back to Malibu after having beaten the Trojans during the ITA Kickoff Weekend. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.