COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Pepperdine men's tennis program saw another successful dual season come to a close on Saturday afternoon, as host and #10 South Carolina was too much for the Waves in a 4-1 defeat at the Carolina Tennis Center in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Pepperdine (18-8) wrapped up a season that included the most wins since 2015, a second-place finish in the West Coast Conference regular season and tournament, eight ranked wins, two top-10 victories, four players consistently ranked in the top-100 of the ITA rankings, five Pac-12 wins and six players recognized on the All-WCC teams.
South Carolina (23-6) struck first in doubles, taking the ranked matchup on court one to begin the afternoon. Pepperdine had deuce points on courts two and three at 4-4 and 4-5, respectively, but the Gamecocks closed the door and clinched the doubles point on court three, putting the Waves in an early hole with singles on the way.
The Gamecocks took four first sets in singles and claimed the first singles win of the day, taking court three in straight sets to go up 2-0. The Waves would not go away, however, as
Eero Vasa (Turku, Finland) collected a straight-set, 6-4, 7-6 (1) win on court six over Casey Hoole to cut the lead in half. South Carolina answered with a straight-set win on court four, putting Pepperdine in a 3-1 hole. The Gamecocks advanced to the Super Regional weekend with another straight-set victory on court five to close out the afternoon.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
#18 Rodrigues/Thomson def. #72
De Jonge/Vasa 6-3
Rogers/Summaria vs. Lambling/Story 4-4 unfinished
Hoole/Samuel def.
Rico/Zeitvogel 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3
SINGLES
#24
De Jonge vs. #1 Rodrigues 1-6, 6-4, 0-1 unfinished
#67
Zeitvogel vs. #82 Samuel 6-2, 3-6, 0-3 unfinished
Thomson def. #93
Rogers 6-1, 6-3
Lambling def.
Rico 7-6 (5), 6-1
Story def.
Summaria 6-4, 7-6 (2)
Vasa def. Hoole 6-4, 7-6 (1)
Order of finish: 3, 6, 4, 5*
UP NEXT: Daniel De Jonge will compete at the NCAA Singles Championship in Champaign, Illinois, from May 23-28.
Tim Zeitvogel has been selected as an alternate for the event.
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
