SAN DIEGO, Calif. — For the first time since 2013, the #37 Pepperdine men's tennis team won a West Coast Conference Tournament title with a 4-0 sweep over #30 San Diego at the Aztec Tennis Center on Saturday.
From the get-go, the Waves (18-8, 8-1 WCC) looked like the team poised to dominate the Toreros (17-7, 8-1 WCC) in a clash of the WCC's top two teams. A thrilling come-from-behind doubles point win helped the Waves seize momentum, then singles play took care of itself as four Waves won their first sets en route to the team title.
All told, this is Pepperdine's 44th WCC Tournament Championship and then first under the direction of head coach Adam Schaechterle, who in 2019 took over a program that went 7-16 the year prior, quickly turned the program around, then reached the summit by snapping USD's seven-year run of WCC Tournament titles.
With the women's team's win earlier that day, Pepperdine swept both conference tennis tournament titles for the first time since 2013.
Individually, six Waves earned All-Tournament honors: Maxi Homberg (Freising, Germany) and Eero Vasa (Turku, Finland); and Pietro Fellin (Milan, Italy) and Linus Carlsson Halldin (Stockholm, Sweden) earned doubles team honors, while #64 Daniel De Jonge (Vlissingen, Netherlands), Homberg and Robert Shelton (Lancaster, Pa.) earned all-tournament honors for their efforts in singles.
The road to Pepperdine's first WCC title in a decade would not be an easy one.
The Toreros took early leads in the doubles point on court one and three while Homberg and Vasa were the lone bright spots on court two. Yet the tide turned. Over on court three, Carlsson Halldin and Fellin won several key break points and took a 5-4 lead over their opponents.
While the Toreros gained ground on the second line, Pepperdine's doubles team of #54 De Jonge and Tim Zeitvogel (Baden-Baden, Germany) stormed all the way back from trailing by three points to tie the match at 5-all. Fellin and Carlsson Halldin struck first with a 6-4 win, then Homberg and Vasa clinched with a 6-4 win of their own.
Pepperdine carried the momentum from winning an emotional doubles point into singles play, as four Waves won their first sets against the Toreros. Senior De Jonge — who was one of Pepperdine's earliest recruits by Schaechterle — got on the board first with his inspired 6-2, 6-1 win on court two.
The end of Pepperdine's lineup sealed the deal. For the second match in as many days, Shelton helped Pepperdine's cause with a 6-3, 6-2 win on court six. Then all eyes turned to the freshman Homberg, who would seal the deal with a 6-2, 6-4 win over USD's Marvin Schaber for one of the biggest dual match wins of his collegiate career.
2023 WCC MEN'S TENNIS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
DOUBLES
Iiro Vasa/Sacchit Sharrma (San Diego)
Eero Vasa/Maxi Homberg (Pepperdine)
Pietro Fellin/Linus Carlsson Halldin (Pepperdine)
SINGLES
Sema Pankin (Portland)
Daniel De Jonge (Pepperdine)
Carlos Ramos Membrives (Saint Mary's)
Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU)
Maxi Homberg (Pepperdine)
Robert Shelton (Pepperdine)
RESULTS
DOUBLES
I. Vasa/ Sharrma vs. #54 Zeitvogel/ De Jonge 5-5, unfinished
E. Vasa/ Homberg def. Tarvet/Klaassen 6-4
Fellin/Carlsson Halldin def. Schaber/ Ruland 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 2
SINGLES
Tarvet vs. #122 Zeitvogel 6-1, 3-3, unfinished
#64 De Jonge def. #84 I. Vasa 6-2, 6-1
Sharrma vs. E. Vasa 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
Fellin vs. Klaassen 6-2, 4-3 unfinished
Homberg def. Schaber 6-2, 6-4
Shelton def. Niedner 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 6, 5*
UP NEXT: Pepperdine will learn its postseason destination during the NCAA Men's Tennis Selection Show on Monday at 3:30 p.m. PT. It will be live-streamed on NCAA.com.
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
