MALIBU, California – The #19 Pepperdine men's tennis program begins its quest to return to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season with a short trip on Saturday to take on Pac-12 power UCLA.
Match 1: #19 Pepperdine vs UCLA | Saturday, January 21 | 1 p.m. PT | Los Angeles Tennis Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES HISTORY: The Waves got a memorable 4-1 win over the #47 Bruins in 2022 on a weekend where Pepperdine also beat #5 USC and celebrated former coach Allen Fox. The Waves' last win in Los Angeles came in 2006, a 4-3 win over UCLA en route to winning the national championship that year.
COVERAGE: UCLA will have live video and stats for Saturday's match, with the link to both being available on PepperdineWaves.com. All home matches will be live streamed via Playsight and can be found on PepperdineWaves.com. Scores will be updated periodically on Twitter at @PeppTennis.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Graduate students
Daniel De Jonge and
Tim Zeitvogel return for their final seasons in a Waves' uniform.
De Jonge (Vlissingen, Netherlands), ranked #31 by the ITA in singles, was an All-WCC first team pick in singles and doubles last season and competed at the NCAA Singles Championship. He was also named the ITA Southwest Regional Most Improved Senior following the completion of the dual season.
Zeitvogel, ranked #94, holds the second-highest overall winning percentage in program history, winning 81% of his matches (65-15). The Baden-Baden, Germany native was named the national 2022 ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award honoree and the ITA Southwest Regional Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. He was an All-WCC first team selection in singles and an honorable mention honoree in doubles. As a pair, he and De Jonge are ranked 34th in the ITA doubles rankings following a terrific fall.
Fellow senior
Eero Vasa (Turku, Finland) took the fall off from college tennis, but was a formidable opponent in the lineup in 2022 in his first season in Malibu. Vasa was All-WCC first team in doubles with De Jonge and was an honorable mention choice in singles.
Robert Shelton (Lancaster, Penn.) and
Linus Carlsson Halldin (Stockholm, Sweden) both redshirted for Pepperdine last season but are expected to be contributors in the lineup this season.
Two freshmen join the fold in 2023 as
Maxi Homberg (Freising, Germany) and
Max Wuelfing (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) begin their first season of college tennis. Both competed in the fall and are expected to make an immediate impact for the Waves this spring.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
UCLA suffered a losing season in 2022, going 13-12 and 2-4 in the Pac-12 en route to missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1976. The Bruins return seven players from last season's squad, highlighted by Alexander Hoogmartens (#83) and Giacomo Revelli (#89).
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
