Waves Invite BYU, San Diego to Malibu for Shot at Conference Title

MALIBU, Calif. – The #30 Pepperdine men's tennis team has a chance to return to former glory with their final two West Coast Conference matches at Ralphs-Straus on Friday and Sunday. The latter of the two matches will also serve as Senior Day for Waves Adrian Oetzbach and Pawel Jankowiak.

Should the Waves defeat both BYU and USD, Pepperdine will clinch the regular-season title for the third time since its inception in 2012, bringing the automatic NCAA Tournament bid back to Malibu for the first time since 2013.

MATCH #20: #30 Pepperdine (13-6, 6-0 WCC) vs BYU (13-5, 6-0 WCC) | Friday, April 23 | Malibu, Calif. | Livestream & Scoring

MATCH #21: #30 Pepperdine (13-6, 6-0 WCC) vs San Diego (7-9, 4-2 WCC) | Sunday, April 25 | Malibu, Calif. | Livestream & Scoring

ATTENDANCE: Following new state and country guidelines, Pepperdine will begin allowing a limited number of team guests to attend home tennis matches. However, only family members of Pepperdine student-athletes, who must be California residents or fully vaccinated and placed on a team pass list, will be allowed in at this time. Tickets are still not available for the general public. Guests must adhere to the venue's COVID-19 protocols.

ON THE OPPONENTS
The two undefeateds in WCC play will square off on Friday, with BYU just barely edging out the Waves in overall winning percentage at 72% in comparison to Pepperdine's 68%. UNLV is both teams' common non-conference foe, as the Cougars lost 4-3 in Vegas and the Waves defeated the Rebels 5-2 back in February.

The Waves will take on "reigning champions" San Diego on Sunday for the conference finale, as the Toreros have won the last six regular-season championships. USD has accrued losses to WCC opponents Portland at 2-5 and BYU at 0-4 and earned wins over Cal Poly, UC Irvine and UNLV.

Ranked for USD is August Holmgren, who is tied at #82.

SURF REPORT
The #30 Waves return home after a three-match road trip in the PNW and at UCLA over the past week. Sitting at 6-0 in conference play, Pepperdine will attempt to earn its first WCC Championship in seven years (not counting the championship-less 2020 season). The Waves have a storied tennis program, of course, winning 43 total WCC Tournaments with the second-most San Diego coming in at nine total.

Freshman Guy Den Ouden leads the Waves in the wins column, going 14-4 in his first year in a Pepperdine uniform. He currently stands 9-2 in the #2 singles position, as well as 9-2 in doubles with partner Adrian Oetzbach.

Junior Tim Zeitvogel has yet to drop a singles match this season, going 4-0 in conference and playing on courts four and five.

UP NEXT
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Waves will await their placement in the NCAA Tournament during the selection show, airing at 3:30 p.m. PT on NCAA.com.

Waves Invite BYU, San Diego to Malibu for Shot at Conference Title

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Players Mentioned

Guy Den Ouden

Pawel Jankowiak

Adrian Oetzbach

Tim Zeitvogel

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