OJAI, Calif. – The #22 Pepperdine men's tennis program earned its first berth in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship since 2017 with a 4-1 win over #74 Portland on Friday afternoon at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club.
Pepperdine (17-6) is looking for its first WCC Tournament championship since 2013.
Similar to the first meeting between the schools, Portland (11-10) took the doubles point, as the Pilots' court three pair got the afternoon going with a 6-1 win. Pepperdine evened things up, as
Daniel De Jonge (Vlissingen, Netherlands) and
Eero Vasa (Turku, Finland) earned a 6-2 ranked win, defeating #32 Eleftherios Neos and Sema Pankin. The doubles point came down to court two, where Portland collected a 6-2 win, putting the Waves in an early hole with singles points soon to be up for grabs.
In Pepperdine's 4-1 win over Portland three weeks ago, the Pilots took four first sets in singles. It was a different story today, as the Waves claimed all six first sets.
Corrado Summaria (Cosenza, Italy) blew past Nikolas Tvedt 6-0, 6-1 to even the match up at one apiece. #96
Andrew Rogers (Brentwood, Tenn.) gave Pepperdine its first lead with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court three over Nicolas Ocana.
With four courts remaining and two wins needed for a clinch, courts one, two and four were all on the verge of going the Waves' way.
Enrique Luque Rico (Cordoba, Spain) claimed the third straight-set win with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Issa Yoshida on court four. #62
Tim Zeitvogel (Baden-Baden, Germany) defeated Neos 6-4, 6-2 on court two to clinch the win and keep Pepperdine in the hunt for a WCC Tournament championship.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
De Jonge/Vasa def. #32 Neos/Pankin 6-2
Ocana/Tvedt def.
Rogers/Summaria 6-2
Yoshida/Oberg def.
Rico/Zeitvogel 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
#23
De Jonge vs. Pankin 6-4, 5-2 unfinished
#62
Zeitvogel def. Neos 6-4, 6-2
#96
Rogers def. Ocana 6-2, 6-3
Rico def. Yoshida 6-3, 6-3
Summaria def. Tvedt 6-0, 6-1
Vasa vs. Brown 6-2, 3-6, 3-2 unfinished
Order of finish: 5, 3, 4, 2*
NEXT UP: Pepperdine will play #19 San Diego at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow in the WCC Championship match. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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