LAKE NONA, Florida – In a historic match full of firsts on Saturday night at the USTA National Campus, the fifth-ranked Pepperdine women's tennis team fought until the very end of the NCAA Women's Tennis Team Championship Final against second-ranked Texas, ultimately falling 4-3.
The match was a thrilling battle of talented collegiate athleticism throughout. After dropping the doubles point, the Waves' singles fought back, collecting on three wins over the Longhorns on courts two, five and six to reach a 3-3 overall tie.
All eyes then turned to the No. 3 position, where Pepperdine's and Texas' competitors were battling out a three-set thriller in the No. 3 position. Despite a valiant effort and a 5-5 third set tie, the opposition was able to secure the final two points and garner the NCAA Championship crown.
CRASHING THROUGH HISTORY
The Waves (25-4, 8-0 WCC) made a Cinderella run through the last few rounds of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, going where no Pepperdine women's team had gone before. Having earned a spot in the tournament for the past 19 years in a row, no team had advanced past the tournament quarterfinals until this season.
The 2020-21 Waves are the third Pepperdine women's team to reach an NCAA Championship game, as beach volleyball did so in 2017 as well as golf in 2003.
In a broader sense, only one other non-Power Five conference school had reached the NCAA Championship match- Trinity University in Texas, who finished as runners-up in 1983.
Graduate senior
Jessica Failla achieved the first-ever Pepperdine dual singles win in an NCAA Final match, earning the Waves' first team point in the process.
RESULTS
#2 Texas 4, #5 Pepperdine 3
Singles
1. #37 Peyton Stearns (UT) def.
#77 Lahey, Ashley (PEPP) 2-6, 6-0, 6-2
2.
#21 Failla, Jessica (PEPP) def. #35 Anna Turati (UT) 6-2, 6-3
3. #62 Lulu Sun (UT) def.
#89 Pachkaleva, Taisiya (PEPP) 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5
4. #76 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def.
#118 Fukuda, Shiori (PEPP) 6-3, 6-2
5.
Zaar, Lisa (PEPP) def. #72 Kylie Collins (UT) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
6.
Redelijk, Nikki (PEPP) def. Malaika Rapolu (UT) 6-4, 7-5
Order of finish: 4,2,5,1,6,3
Doubles
1. #19 Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT) def.
Lahey, Ashley/Zaar, Lisa (PEPP) 7-6 (7-3)
2.
Pachkaleva, Taisiya/Fukuda, Shiori (PEPP) def. Anna Turati/Fernanda Labrana (UT) 6-1
3. #47 Peyton Stearns/Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def.
Failla, Jessica/Iamachkine,Anastasia (PEPP) 7-6 (7-5)
Order of finish: 2,1,3
RECAP
In front of a raucous, 100% capacity crowd and a stunning Florida sunset, the Waves and the Longhorns began the championship match in the same way they had all year- in doubles.
On court two, the pair of
Taisiya Pachkaleva and
Shiori Fukuda made quick work of their Texas pair, taking the match at a swift 6-1. From there, it was a race to the finish as courts one and three mirrored scores for a while, battling back and forth while trading games.
Ashley Lahey and
Lisa Zaar pulled within three-all in their tiebreak, but the #19 team of Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun went on a tear of four straight points to take the win from the Waves.
Court three finished seconds after in the same fashion, as
Jessica Failla and
Anastasia Iamachkine dropped a 7-6(5) decision to #47 Peyton Stearns and Charlotte Chavatipon relinquishing the doubles point to Texas.
Pepperdine earned the first point on all singles courts, as four courts used that momentum to snatch their respective first sets. Down 0-2, #21 Failla grabbed a 6-2, 6-3 win over #35 Anna Turati on court two, mirroring Failla's 2020 clinching win over Turati in Malibu.
From there, the momentum started to shift Pepperdine's way, as Zaar won 6-3 in her first set and fought off #72 Kylie Collins in the second set with a 7-6(3) tiebreaker.
Freshman
Nikki Redelijk earned her first win at the USTA National Campus, defeating Malaika Rapolu 6-4, 7-5 and giving the Longhorn her third loss of the season.
All tied up at three-all, the Waves once again looked to
Taisiya Pachkaleva who was locked in a three-set thriller with fellow freshman #62 Lulu Sun. Pachkaleva dropped her first set but fought off her Texas opponent in a 7-6(3) tiebreak to force the third.
Fighting neck and neck, the Wave had locked up the Longhorn at 5-5 until Sun got the upper hand and won two-straight games for the championship clinch point.
UP NEXT
Two singles players and a doubles team will remain in Orlando for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournament set to start Sunday, May 23. Failla, who finished the season ranked #21, will open up against Anna Riedmiller of Denver at 2 p.m. PT as Lahey will begin her side of the tournament opposing six-seeded Anna Rogers of NC State also at 2 p.m. PT.
Doubles tandem Failla and Fukuda are slated to serve off against fifth-seeded Jaeda Daniel and Adriana Reami of NC State on Monday, May 24.
