MALIBU, California – The #22 Pepperdine men's tennis program starts postseason play in search of its 44^th West Coast Conference Tournament championship as the six-team tournament gets underway this weekend. Pepperdine, the #2 seed, has earned a bye to the semifinals.
 
MATCH 23: #2 Pepperdine (16-6, 8-1 WCC) vs. #3 Portland (10-9, 6-3 WCC)/#6 San Francisco (11-12, 3-6 WCC) | Friday, April 29 | 1:30 p.m. | Ojai Valley Athletic Club | Ojai, Calif.
 
If Pepperdine wins … MATCH 24: #2 Pepperdine (16-6, 8-1 WCC) vs. #1 San Diego (20-3, 9-0 WCC)/#4 Gonzaga (17-5, 6-3 WCC)/#5 Santa Clara (10-11, 5-4 WCC) | Saturday, April 30 | 10 a.m. | Weil Tennis Academy | Ojai, Calif.
  
SERIES HISTORY: Pepperdine is 12-3 all-time against Portland, including a 4-0 record in the WCC Tournament (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000). The Waves have won the last three meetings over the Pilots, including a 4-1 win in Malibu on April 9.
 
Pepperdine is 24-2 against San Francisco, including a perfect 9-0 record in the postseason tournament. Five days ago, the Waves defeated the Dons 4-0 at home to win their third straight match over USF.
 
WCC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Pepperdine has not competed at the WCC Tournament since 2019, where the Waves fell in the quarterfinals to LMU. Pepperdine won an astounding 20 straight WCC Tournament championships from 1991-2010.
 
COVERAGE: Links to possible live video and stats will be available on PepperdineWaves.com at a later time. Scores will be updated periodically on Twitter at @PeppTennis.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The NCAA team selection show is Monday, May 2 at 3:00 p.m. PT. It will be streamed live on NCAA.com. The selections for the individual championships will be announced in a press release on Tuesday, May 3.
 
WAVES IN THE RANKINGS: As a team, Pepperdine is ranked 22^nd in the ITA computer ratings and 19^th in the Tennis Channel/USTA college poll.
  
SCOUTING THE WAVES: Pepperdine finished the regular season with two home victories last weekend, defeating San Francisco 4-0 and Santa Clara 4-2 to clinch the second seed and a bye to the semifinals. Eero Vasa and #87 Pietro Fellin each won a pair of singles matches over the weekend, while Corrado Summaria, Enrique Luque Rico and #23 Daniel De Jonge were also victorious. Pepperdine is also represented in the ITA rankings by #62 Tim Zeitvogel and #96 Andrew Rogers.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Portland defeated Gonzaga 4-1 last Saturday to clinch the #3 seed in the tournament. The Pilots are winners of three straight since falling to Pepperdine and have entered the team rankings for the first time this season at #74. The doubles pair of Eleftherios Neos and Sema Pankin is ranked 32^nd by the ITA.
 
San Francisco is headed in an opposite direction, having lost the last four matches. Most recently, the Dons dropped road matches at Pepperdine and LMU. Portland defeated USF 4-0 back on April 3. Phuc Huynh leads San Francisco with a dual record of 10-7 playing from the top three positions.
 
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.