LAKE NONA, Florida – After several days adjusting to the Central Florida humidity, the fifth-ranked Pepperdine women's tennis team is set to take on 20
th-ranked Michigan in the Round of 16 on Sunday, held at the USTA National Campus on the outskirts of Orlando.
ROUND OF 16: #5 Pepperdine (22-3, 8-0 WCC) vs #20 Michigan (19-3, 15-1 B1G) | Sunday, May 16 | 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET | USTA National Campus |
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Live scoring will also be available for every match at the link above. You can also follow along with all the action in Orlando on Twitter at @WavesTennis and Instagram @Pepperdinewtn.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN
Though the Big Ten did not have non-conference matches, the Wolverines proved their worth in tough conference play, dropping only one match in the B1G regular season against then-#9 Ohio State. Previously, however, Michigan defeated Ohio State in the teams' first meeting in February, right before stunning #7 Northwestern 5-2.
After receiving the regular-season conference crown, Michigan rolled through the conference tournament where they beat Illinois and then-#17 Northwestern to earn a spot in the championship match against #16 Ohio State. The Wolverines lost once more to the Buckeyes, but gained an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament unseeded.
In the first and second rounds, Michigan defeated #40 Rice decidedly at 4-1 before upsetting #14 LSU to advance to Orlando.
The Wolverines have two ranked singles players in #57 Kari Miller and #119 Gala Mesochoritou, as well as the #56 doubles pair of Chiara Lommer and Jaedan Brown. All-time, Pepperdine stands 4-2 against Michigan with their last match coming in the abbreviated 2020 season where the Waves won 4-1 in Malibu.
SURF REPORT
The #5 Waves will ride the momentum coming in hot off their second round win over Stanford last Sunday as they kept the defending 2019 champions out of the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1985.
In the win, Pepperdine shook up the doubles lineup a bit, as the return of junior
Anastasia Iamachkine turned heads last weekend. The pair of Iamachkine and
Jessica Failla ended the 2019 season at #55 in the ITA Doubles rankings, seeing success on court one for the Waves.
The tandem of
Ashley Lahey and
Lisa Zaar also made their first appearance last weekend as the duo took down Stanford's No. 1 pair of Michaela Gordon and Niluka Madurawe 6-3 to keep Pepperdine competitive in the doubles competition.
#118 and former Big Ten Athlete of the Year will be no stranger to the Wolverines as the Buckeye transfer competed against Michigan at Ohio State last season.
Shiori Fukuda was first to the finish line in the match against Stanford, besting Ana Geller 6-1, 7-5 in a powerful win for the graduate senior.
Freshman #89
Taisiya Pachkaleva finished moments after Fukuda, going 6-4, 6-1 over Stanford's Emily Arbuthnott on court three for her 21
st-straight win of the season. Pachkaleva has infamously not lost on an outdoor court in the 2021 dual season, as her last loss came against then-#6 Georgia Tech. She is 23-1 on the year.
Super senior #21 Failla earned an emotional win on court two over the Cardinal's 111
th-ranked Angelica Blake, where the Wave outlasted her competition at 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for the 3-2 Pepperdine lead on the afternoon. The Ramona, Calif. native currently stands 15-3 on the season, only having dropped one match on court two.
Sophomore
Lisa Zaar- who earned the 4-3 clinch point earlier this season as the Waves visited Stanford- extended her match just long enough on court five, dropping the first set in a 5-7 tiebreaker but coming from behind in the second to win 6-3.
The stretch bought #77
Ashley Lahey just enough time to fend off the Cardinal's court one player #46 Michaela Gordon. In a sendoff to defeat all sendoffs, the senior earned her last win in her last match on Pepperdine soil that just so happened to clinch the match for the good guys at 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 for a 4-2 final. Lahey's play is trending upward at just the right time, rolling momentum into Florida on a six-match winning streak, going 11-4 all season.
WAVES IN THE RANKS
SINGLES
Jessica Failla - #21
Ashley Lahey - #77
Taisiya Pachkaleva - #89
Shiori Fukuda - #118
UP NEXT
With another Waves win, Pepperdine will face the winner of #4 UCLA and #13 Georgia Tech in the tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 19.
