MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine men's tennis team announced the signing of 2018 All-American Eero Vasa, a Cornell graduate transfer, on Monday.
 
Vasa competed for the Big Red for two seasons after transferring from UCF following his freshman year. As a junior, he went 5-2 in singles, including a 5-1 record at the number one spot. As a sophomore, he went 6-6 in singles and 6-8 in doubles. He did not compete in 2020-21 as the Ivy League opted out of spring sports due to COVID-19.
 
Prior to his time in the Ivy League, Vasa was an All-American at UCF after a freshman season that saw him finish the year with a national ranking of seventh while earning first team All-AAC honors. He also sported a 15-2 record at the number one doubles position with teammate Korey Lovett. Prior to UCF, Vera was ranked as high as #52 in the ITF Junior rankings and was selected to Finland's Davis Cup team three times. He won Finland's Under-21 national championship and finished second in his native country's overall men's championship in 2014.
 
"We are grateful that Eero recognized the player development and the culture here at Pepperdine," said head coach Adam Schaechterle. "As a former All-American who reached 600 ATP, he could pick any program in the country. It's a complement to our current group that they are attracting world-class players and people to Malibu. Eero will make an impact in both singles and doubles and brings confidence and maturity to a team ready to level up.
 
"We are building a special culture, and that can only grow when recruits buy into the program values. Eero has the right character and the right mindset, and we can't wait to coach him every day."
 
Vasa will join fellow newcomers Linus Carlsson Halldin, Eric Hadigian and Andrew Rogers in Malibu this season.
 
The Waves enter the upcoming season as the defending West Coast Conference champions. They defeated UCSB in the first round of the NCAA Championships before falling to USC, ending their season at 16-7.