SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The NCAA's top women's doubles team proved its worth as Pepperdine's team of Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen cruised into the ITA National Fall Championships quarterfinals with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) win over Virginia's Natasha Subhash and Hibah Shaikh on Thursday.
Making the quarterfinals in back-to-back seasons, Broadus (Carrollton, Texas) and Tjen (Jakarta, Indonesia) will face off against Temple's team of Maiko Uchijima and Samantha Nanere Friday at 2 p.m. Uchijima and Nanere upset two nationally ranked teams to get to the quarterfinals.
The first set was smooth sailing for the Waves. After Virginia held serve in the first game, Broadus and Tjen overpowered their opponents by winning the first set comfortably 6-1.
However, the second set was more competitive than the first. Although Subhash and Shaikh broke the Waves in the first game of the second set, the Waves broke back, then consolidated the break to take a 2-1 lead. From there, Pepperdine won the next two games to go up 4-1 before the Cavaliers held serve at 4-2.
Virginia tried mounting a comeback in the next set by breaking the Waves to make the score 4-3, Pepperdine. Broadus and Tjen broke back by winning the next three points, capped off by a Virginia double-fault on game point, yet the Cavaliers wouldn't go quietly. Subhash and Shaikh extended the match by breaking the Waves and then winning deuce point to tie the second set at five games apiece. The match was played on serve for the next two games to force a tiebreak.
Eventually, Pepperdine outlasted Virginia in the tiebreak. Back-to-back Cavalier returns into the net gave Pepperdine an early 3-1 cushion and the Waves would take a 4-3 advantage going into the change-over. Tjen broke the Cavaliers on the next point with two strong forehands, then a series of overhead smashes from Tjen brought the Waves to match point. Virginia had one final push in them to tie the score at 5-5, but Broadus finished off the Cavaliers two points later with a backhand at the net that was too much to handle.
Earlier that morning, Broadus saw her fall singles season come to an end in a 6-0, 6-2 loss to #25 Sarah Hamner of South Carolina. In a singles tournament that has been littered with upsets, Hamner will take on the top-ranked singles player left in the field: 2-seed Reese Brantmeier of North Carolina.
RESULTS
Singles Second Round
#25 Sarah Hamner (SCAR) def. #23 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles Second Round
#1 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. Natasha Subhash/Hibah Shaikh (UVA) 6-1, 7-6 (5)
FRIDAY'S MATCH
Doubles Quarterfinals
#1 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) vs. Maiko Uchijima/Samantha Nanere (TEMP), 2 p.m.
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