MALIBU, California – The #21 Pepperdine men's tennis program nearly dug itself out of an early hole, but #15 Texas proved to be too much on Friday afternoon, handing the Waves a 5-2 defeat at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center and halting their five-match win streak.
Texas (10-7) struck first in doubles, as the 51
st-ranked pair of Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab won 6-0 on court two. Courts one and three were each at 5-4, but the Longhorns got to the finish line first, taking court three 6-4 and earning the doubles point.
The Longhorns kept the pressure on in singles, winning five of six first sets. The Texas lead grew to 2-0 after a straight-set win on court four. Pepperdine (8-5) got back into the match after #121
Corrado Summaria (Cosenza, Italy) earned a 6-3, 7-5 win over Chih Chi Huang on court five.
Texas took a 3-1 lead after a straight-set win on court one between ranked foes #13
Daniel De Jonge (Vlissingen, Netherlands) and #38 Micah Braswell. The Longhorns then clinched the match with a three-set win on court six by Evin McDonald.
Courts two and three finished to completion, as #65
Tim Zeitvogel (Baden-Baden, Germany) defeated #32 Richard Ciamarra on court two 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, but Texas claimed a win on four to finish off the 5-2 victory.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
Rogers/Vasa vs. #12 Ciamarra/Harper 5-4, unfinished
#51 Spizzirri/Woldeab def.
De Jonge/Hadigian 6-0
Braswell/Huang def.
Summaria/Zeitvogel 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3
SINGLES
#38 Braswell def. #13
De Jonge 6-3, 7-5
#65
Zeitvogel def. #32 Ciamarra 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Spizzirri def.
Vasa 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Woldeab def. #48
Rogers 6-4, 6-1
#121
Summaria def. Huang 6-3, 7-5
McDonald def.
Hadigian 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 6*, 2, 3
NEXT UP: Pepperdine now turns its focus to West Coast Conference play, as the Waves open up WCC action with a trip to Loyola Marymount next Saturday, March 26. First serve in Los Angeles is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
