MALIBU, California – The #8 Pepperdine women's tennis program is one of the eight teams still standing in the country and the Waves will play in their fifth NCAA quarterfinal in the last six tournaments when they face #1 North Carolina on Friday afternoon.
 
Last season, Pepperdine took down #1 and previously undefeated UNC, 4-3, in the NCAA semifinals on a clinch by Taisiya Pachkaleva to advance to its first NCAA final in program history.
 
MATCH 30 (National Quarterfinal): #8 Pepperdine (23-6) vs. #1 North Carolina (27-2) | Friday, May 20 | 1:00 p.m. PT | Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex | Champaign, Ill.
 
If Pepperdine wins … MATCH 31 (National Semifinal): #8 Pepperdine (23-6) vs. #4 Texas (23-4) OR #5 Virginia (23-5) | Saturday, May 21 | 2:00/5:00 p.m. PT | Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex | Champaign, Ill.
 
If Pepperdine wins … MATCH 32 (National Championship): #8 Pepperdine (23-6) vs. TBD | Sunday, May 22 | 5:00 p.m. PT | Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex | Champaign, Ill.
  
SERIES HISTORY: Pepperdine is 1-3 all-time against North Carolina, but there was no better time for the only win against the Tar Heels than the NCAA Tournament thriller last season. UNC defeated the Waves in Malibu in 2004 and at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in 2018 and 2021, both events being held indoors in Madison, Wisc.
 
The Waves are 13-15 against Texas and had their six-match win streak broken in the NCAA final last season. In the round of 16 at the 2016 NCAA Tournament, Pepperdine defeated the Longhorns 4-0. In neutral-site contests, Pepperdine holds a 3-2 advantage.
 
Pepperdine has only met Virginia three times, winning all three matchups against the Cavaliers in 1994, 2005 and 2020. The neutral-site contests in 1994 and 2020 came at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Pepperdine has earned a spot in its ninth-ever NCAA quarterfinal. This is the 38^th NCAA Tournament appearance for Pepperdine, as the Waves hold a 45-37 record all time. Last season's squad advanced to the national championship match, falling 4-3 to Texas. Pepperdine has only missed the NCAA Tournament twice in its history. The Waves are looking for their second-ever appearance in the NCAA semifinals, with the first coming in 2021.
 
THE FIELD: In addition to Pepperdine, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia, the other side of the bracket includes #3 Duke, #6 NC State, #7 Texas A&M and #2 Oklahoma. All Super Regional hosts took care of business, and the quarterfinal round will feature each of the top-eight seeds selected to the NCAA Tournament. In each of the first two seasons of the Super Regional format (2019 and 2022), all Super Regional hosts have advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals.
 
COVERAGE: Links to the Tournament Central page, along with live video and stats, are available on PepperdineWaves.com. Scores will be updated periodically on Twitter at @WavesTennis. All video streams will be carried on the TennisONE App. TennisONE will produce a broadcast with announcers for the semifinal and final rounds of team, singles and doubles competition. All other matches will consist of each court's scoreboard video feed.

TICKET/FAN INFO: Tickets are available online at tickets.fightingillini.com or at the ticket trailer located near the main entrance each day of play.

PARKING: Parking is free for the duration of the championships. Parking is available in the paved lot adjacent to the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex entrance. Entry to that lot is from S. Goodwin Ave, east of the courts. If that main parking lot reaches capacity, there is an additional paved lot further east of the Tennis Complex, with entry from Florida Ave. It is approximately a 5-minute walk from that further Florida Ave. lot to the courts.
 
WAVES IN THE RANKINGS: As a team, Pepperdine is ranked eighth in the ITA computer ratings and 10^th in the Tennis Channel/USTA college poll. The final team poll will be released on Wednesday, May 25.
  
SCOUTING THE WAVES: Pepperdine made quick work of its Sweet 16 matchup, shutting out #9 Miami (Fla.) 4-0 last Friday in Malibu. The Waves earned the doubles point while #15 Shiori Fukuda, #40 Pachkaleva and #85 Savannah Broadus all won singles matches. In three NCAA Tournament matches, Broadus has only surrendered three games total. Other Waves in the rankings include #27 Lisa Zaar, #59 Victoria Flores, #91 Janice Tjen, #121 Nikki Redelijk, #42 Broadus/Tjen, #45 Flores/Zaar, #60 Flores/Zaar and #70 Broadus/Fukuda. The final ITA individual rankings of the season will be released on June 2. Fukuda, Zaar, Pachkaleva and Flores will stay in Illinois for the Singles Championship beginning on Monday, while Broadus and Tjen will stick around to participate in the Doubles Championship, which begins Tuesday.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: North Carolina has been dominant throughout this season, winning 27 of 29 matches, and has yet to drop a point in the NCAA Tournament. In the Super Regional, UNC took down #16 Florida 4-0. The Tar Heels have only lost one regular season Atlantic Coast Conference match in over four years. The ITA rankings are littered with Tar Heels: #5 Cameron Morra, #30 Elizabeth Scotty, #35 Reilly Tran, #51 Carson Tanguilig, #55 Fiona Crawley, #2 Scotty/Crawley, #39 Morra/Tanguilig, #40 Allie Sanford/Morra and #69 Sanford/Tran.
 
Texas, the defending NCAA champion, has picked up right where it left off, winning the Big 12 postseason tournament and taking down a pair of top-20 opponents in the NCAA Tournament. In the Super Regional last weekend, the Longhorns dropped the doubles point to #13 Auburn before rallying for a 4-1 win. The Longhorns boast the #2 singles player in the country, Peyton Stearns, who is 22-1 this dual season. Other Longhorns in the rankings include Kylie Collins (#49), Sabina Zeynalova (#93), Malaika Rapolu (#95), Fernanda Labrana (#115), Allura Zamarripa/Stearns (#11) and Charlotte Chavatipon/Collins (#67).
 
Virginia dethroned UNC from the perch of the ACC, giving the Tar Heels their first ACC Tournament championship loss since 2015 back on April 23. The Cavaliers have won their three NCAA Tournament matches by a combined score of 12-1. In the Super Regional, the Cavaliers defeated #12 Oklahoma State 4-1. Emma Navarro is ranked #1 by the ITA in singles, while she is joined by #44 Natasha Subhash, #72 Elaine Chervinsky and #112 Melodie Collard in singles. Doubles rankings include #3 Navarro/Hibah Shaikh, #14 Amber O'Dell/Navarro, #51 Subhash/Sofia Munera, #61 Navarro/Collard, #62 Chervinsky/Subhash, #73 O'Dell/Munera and #76 Chervinsky/Collard.
 
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.