Zaar Lifts #7 Waves Over #25 Stanford in 4-3 Thriller

Friday, April 2

Palo Alto, Calif.

11:00 a.m. PT

Pepperdine University

Stanford

Photo by: Sarah Otteman

Zaar Lifts #7 Waves Over #25 Stanford in 4-3 Thriller

4/2/2021 4:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: by Athletic Communications

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Sophomore Lisa Zaar came from behind in her third-set tie-breaker to lift the seventh-ranked Pepperdine women's tennis team over reigning national champion #25 Stanford 4-3 on Friday afternoon.

Zaar fell in her first set 2-6 but stormed back in the second at 6-3. The third set required a tie break, where she was down early at 6-2 but scored six-straight points to take the 8-6 win.

WAVES WIN ON 5!!!! LISA COMES FROM BEHIND IN THE TIE BREAK TO WIN IT FOR PEPP AT 4-3!!!@ITA_Tennis | @WCCsports pic.twitter.com/O1YMjeVzOy
— Pepperdine Women's Tennis (@WavesTennis) April 2, 2021

RESULTS
#7 Pepperdine 4, #25 Stanford 3
DOUBLES
1) Failla/Fukuda (PEPP) d. Gordon/Niluka Madurawe (STAN) 6-2
2) Arbuthnott/Blake (STAN) d. Lahey/Redelijk (PEPP) 6-2
3) Choy/Higuchi (STAN) d. Pachkaleva/Zaar (PEPP) 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

SINGLES
1) #48 Michaela Gordon (STAN) d. #14 Jessica Failla (PEPP) 6-3, 6-1
2) #67 Ashley Lahey (PEPP) d. Emily Arbuthnott (STAN) 6-2, 6-3
3) #115 Taisiya Pachkaleva (PEPP) d. Angelica Blake (STAN) 6-4, 6-2
4) Shiori Fukuda (PEPP) d. Ana Geller (STAN) 7-5, 4-2, ret. (injury)
5) Lisa Zaar (PEPP) d. Sara Choy (STAN) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
6) Emma Higuchi (STAN) d. Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 6, 2, 1, 4, 5

RECAP
The drama all began in doubles, where Pepperdine and Stanford split on courts one and three. Court two hosted the tie break for the doubles point, but the Waves fell 6-2 to relinquish the 1-0 lead to the Cardinal going into singles.

Finishing first for Pepperdine was #115 Taisiya Pachkaleva yet again, where she went 6-4, 6-2 over Angelica Blake on court three. #67 Ashley Lahey won shortly after, defeating Emily Arbuthnott on court two 6-2, 6-3.

The Waves stumbled on courts one and six, but Shiori Fukuda received a win on court four after her opponent retired due to injury at a 7-5, 4-2 score, putting the overall score at 3-3.

Lisa Zaar took matters into her own hands after dropping her first set 2-6 and then taking a commanding 6-3 second-set win. In the third, Zaar and Choy traded games, eventually settling on a 6-6 tie breaker for the set and the glory.

The sophomore Wave had a bit of a slow start, finding herself in a 2-6 hole early in the tie break, but Zaar picked up the defense and scored six-straight points to overcome Choy on court five at 7-6(6), giving the Waves a 4-3 dog-pile-earning win.

UP NEXT
The Waves remain in the Bay Area to take on #23 Cal in Berkeley at 12 p.m. this Sunday, April 9.