SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Knotted 3-3 in a battle of unbeaten West Coast Conference women's tennis teams, all eyes fell on court one where #30
Lisa Zaar of Pepperdine and #96 Solymar Colling of the University of San Diego went to a third set.
The Pepperdine senior from Stockholm, Sweden came through with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 victory that not only kept the #8 Waves' (15-3, 6-0 WCC) perfect conference record intact with its 4-3 win over the #29 Toreros (10-9, 4-1 WCC), but also clinched a share of the WCC regular-season title. With one match against San Francisco remaining on Friday, Pepperdine appears to be en route to its eleventh-straight regular-season crown.
Wednesday's match between the top two women's tennis teams in the conference did not disappoint. The Waves and the Toreros split the doubles matches on courts one and three, so the point came down to #32
Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand) and Zaar on court two. Their match went the distance, yet the Waves would fall 7-6 (7-5) to concede the doubles point to the Toreros.
Reigning WCC Singles Player of the Week
Savannah Broadus (Carrollton, Texas) got Pepperdine on the board with a quick 6-1, 6-2 win on court three. Yet USD would reclaim a 3-1 advantage with wins on courts four and two before
Nikki Redelijk (Windermere, Fla.) beat #63 Kailey Evans on the fifth line to pull within one point. Redelijk's win was arguably her best of the season, as her previous best win over a ranked player was against #118 Sofia Rojas of Oklahoma State on March 24.
Winning a decisive point on court six,
Anna Campana (Hillsborough, Calif.) stormed back from dropping the first set to Jordyn McBride en route to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. As the score was tied 3-3, Zaar and Colling fought through two close sets before strong play at the service line from Zaar helped her go the distance in a three-set win. Pepperdine has not lost to a WCC opponent since the 2015 season finale against Saint Mary's. The Waves have won 13 consecutive matches against San Diego.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
Colling/Evans def. #1
Broadus/Tjen, 6-4
De Las Heras/McBride def. #32
Thamchaiwat/Zaar, 7-6 (7-5)
A. Campana/Redelijk def. Goldsmith/BruuSyversen, 6-2
Order of finish: 3,1,2
SINGLES
#30
Zaar def. #96 Colling 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3
De Las Heras def. #11
Tjen 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
#20
Broadus def. Goldsmith, 6-1, 6-2
#86 Desiatnikov def.
Thamchaiwat 6-3, 6-4
Redelijk def. #63 Evans, 6-4, 6-4
A. Campana def. McBride, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 3,4,5,2,6,1*
NEXT UP: The Waves will return home to the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center to host San Francisco for Senior Day on Friday, April 21 at 1 p.m.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
