Friday, May 5
Malibu, Calif.
1:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
vs
Grand Canyon
Photo by: Kyle Cajero
Pepperdine Preps for First-Round Match Against Grand Canyon
5/3/2023 12:34:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU Calif. — Hosting the first round of the NCAA women's tennis tournament for the seventh-consecutive time, the #9 Pepperdine Waves open the tournament at home against Grand Canyon University on Friday, May 5 at 1 p.m.
Should the Waves advance, they will play the winner between UNLV and USC, who play at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center at 10 a.m. on Friday.
MATCH 22: #9 Pepperdine (18-3, 7-0 WCC) vs. Grand Canyon (15-9, 6-3 WAC) | Friday, May 5 | 1 p.m. PT | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center | Malibu, Calif.
COVERAGE
All matches at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center will be live-streamed via Playsight. Â Links to live stats and live video can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
TICKETS
All Pepperdine faculty, staff and students get in free with a valid Pepperdine ID. Tickets for the general public cost $10, while individuals 65 years of age and older or children can purchase tickets for $5.
SERIES HISTORY
Despite playing one state apart, Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the Waves and the Lopes. Grand Canyon University transitioned from Division II to Division I in 2013; this year is the program's second appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Making its 35th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its 39th overall in program history, the  #9 Pepperdine Waves boast the nation's best doubles team in Janice Tjen (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Savannah Broadus (Carrollton, Texas), plus talent throughout the singles lineup with nationally ranked players in #31 Lisa Zaar (Stockholm, Sweden) and #108 Nikki Redelijk (Windermere, Fla.).
Last week, the Waves won their ninth-straight West Coast Conference Tournament title with a 4-0 sweep over their rivals, the LMU Lions. As a team, Pepperdine has a five-game win streak heading in to the postseason.Â
Individually, the Waves are talented across the board.
The aforementioned team of Broadus and Tjen have held down the nation's #1 doubles team ranking for a majority of the season, and the duo earned the top seed in the NCAA doubles tournament earlier this week. Pepperdine has another nationally ranked doubles team in #48 Zaar and Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand), who went 2-0 in the WCC Championship.
In singles, WCC Player of the Year and ITA Singles All-American Tjen ranks 16th in the nation playing anywhere from courts one through three. Broadus still boasts a perfect 19-0 record in dual singles play this season and is ranked #19 in the latest ITA polls, plus Zaar rounds out Pepperdine's NCAA singles qualifiers with a 15-1 record this season. Yet the Pepperdine player with the longest win-streak heading into the NCAA Tournament is Redelijk, who has won her last 12 singles matches on the fifth line.
This year marks the seventh-straight tournament the Waves have hosted the first and second rounds. When hosting the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, Pepperdine has a 17-3 record — including victories in the past 12 matches dating back to 2006.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GCU was the Cinderella story in the Western Athletic Conference women's tennis tournament, as the Lopes upset the top two seeds of the tournament and rallied back from a 3-1 deficit against Tarleton State in the final.Â
Individually, GCU's duo of senior Natasha Puehse and Arizona transfer Santa Strombacha earned All-WAC first team honors in singles and doubles. The pair has gone 16-3 in doubles play and carry a seven-match win streak into the NCAA Tournament. Graduate transfer Madeline Lamoreaux and freshman Anali Kocevar also earned first-team all-conference honors in doubles; they have a 12-6 record as GCU's No. 2 doubles team.
In singles, Puehse, Strombacha and Lamoreaux all have win streaks of 14 matches or greater heading into the NCAA Tournament. All three went undefeated in WAC singles play with perfect 9-0 records. However, no GCU singles or doubles players are nationally ranked.
The Lopes and the Waves have no common opponents, yet the Lopes swept West Coast Conference institution Santa Clara earlier this year.
NEXT UP: Should the Waves advance to the next round, that match will take place on Saturday, May 6 at 1 p.m. PT.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
Should the Waves advance, they will play the winner between UNLV and USC, who play at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center at 10 a.m. on Friday.
MATCH 22: #9 Pepperdine (18-3, 7-0 WCC) vs. Grand Canyon (15-9, 6-3 WAC) | Friday, May 5 | 1 p.m. PT | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center | Malibu, Calif.
COVERAGE
All matches at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center will be live-streamed via Playsight. Â Links to live stats and live video can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
TICKETS
All Pepperdine faculty, staff and students get in free with a valid Pepperdine ID. Tickets for the general public cost $10, while individuals 65 years of age and older or children can purchase tickets for $5.
SERIES HISTORY
Despite playing one state apart, Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the Waves and the Lopes. Grand Canyon University transitioned from Division II to Division I in 2013; this year is the program's second appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Making its 35th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its 39th overall in program history, the  #9 Pepperdine Waves boast the nation's best doubles team in Janice Tjen (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Savannah Broadus (Carrollton, Texas), plus talent throughout the singles lineup with nationally ranked players in #31 Lisa Zaar (Stockholm, Sweden) and #108 Nikki Redelijk (Windermere, Fla.).
Last week, the Waves won their ninth-straight West Coast Conference Tournament title with a 4-0 sweep over their rivals, the LMU Lions. As a team, Pepperdine has a five-game win streak heading in to the postseason.Â
Individually, the Waves are talented across the board.
The aforementioned team of Broadus and Tjen have held down the nation's #1 doubles team ranking for a majority of the season, and the duo earned the top seed in the NCAA doubles tournament earlier this week. Pepperdine has another nationally ranked doubles team in #48 Zaar and Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand), who went 2-0 in the WCC Championship.
In singles, WCC Player of the Year and ITA Singles All-American Tjen ranks 16th in the nation playing anywhere from courts one through three. Broadus still boasts a perfect 19-0 record in dual singles play this season and is ranked #19 in the latest ITA polls, plus Zaar rounds out Pepperdine's NCAA singles qualifiers with a 15-1 record this season. Yet the Pepperdine player with the longest win-streak heading into the NCAA Tournament is Redelijk, who has won her last 12 singles matches on the fifth line.
This year marks the seventh-straight tournament the Waves have hosted the first and second rounds. When hosting the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, Pepperdine has a 17-3 record — including victories in the past 12 matches dating back to 2006.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
GCU was the Cinderella story in the Western Athletic Conference women's tennis tournament, as the Lopes upset the top two seeds of the tournament and rallied back from a 3-1 deficit against Tarleton State in the final.Â
Individually, GCU's duo of senior Natasha Puehse and Arizona transfer Santa Strombacha earned All-WAC first team honors in singles and doubles. The pair has gone 16-3 in doubles play and carry a seven-match win streak into the NCAA Tournament. Graduate transfer Madeline Lamoreaux and freshman Anali Kocevar also earned first-team all-conference honors in doubles; they have a 12-6 record as GCU's No. 2 doubles team.
In singles, Puehse, Strombacha and Lamoreaux all have win streaks of 14 matches or greater heading into the NCAA Tournament. All three went undefeated in WAC singles play with perfect 9-0 records. However, no GCU singles or doubles players are nationally ranked.
The Lopes and the Waves have no common opponents, yet the Lopes swept West Coast Conference institution Santa Clara earlier this year.
NEXT UP: Should the Waves advance to the next round, that match will take place on Saturday, May 6 at 1 p.m. PT.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
Players Mentioned
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