Pepperdine University
#39 UTSA
Men's Tennis Gears up for First-Round Match Against #39 UTSA
5/4/2023 12:41:00 PM | Men's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. — Kicking off its NCAA Tournament stint, the #32 Pepperdine Waves head east to Austin, Texas to take on the #39 UTSA Roadrunners in the first round of the tournament on Saturday at 8 a.m. PT.
Pepperdine (18-8, 8-1 WCC) is playing in the regional hosted by top-seeded Texas, which plays Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Saturday afternoon's match. Should the Waves beat the Roadrunners (18-6, 2-1 C-USA), they will play the winner between the Longhorns and the Islanders on Sunday, May 7 at 11 am. PT.
MATCH 27: #32 Pepperdine (18-8, 8-1 WCC) vs. #39 UTSA (18-6, 2-1 C-USA) | Saturday, May 6 | 8 a.m. PT | Texas Tennis Center | Austin, Texas
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COVERAGE
All matches will be live-streamed via PlaySight. Links to live stats and live video can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
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SERIES HISTORY
Pepperdine and UTSA have never met in dual singles play, however, both teams met this past fall in the ITA National Fall Championships. In that match, UTSA's Sebastian Rodriguez and Alan Magadan outlasted Pepperdine's Daniel De Jonge (Vlissingen, Netherlands) and Tim Zeitvogel (Baden-Baden, Germany) 7-5 (10-6) in the round of 16.
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SCOUTING THE WAVES
Winners of the last five matches, the Waves are making their third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the 39th in program history. Last week, Pepperdine won its first West Coast Conference title since 2013 and its first under head coach Adam Schaechterle with a 4-0 sweep over #30 San Diego, which got sent to USC's region for the first and second rounds.
Pepperdine has been led by a pair of seniors in #69 De Jonge and #107 Zeitvogel, both of whom earned NCAA Tournament berths earlier this week. As a team, De Jonge and Zeitvogel are ranked 64th in the latest ITA polls, earned All-WCC First Team doubles honors and all-tournament honors at WCCs last week. Zeitvogel, a first-team all-conference singles selection, will play on court one for the Waves, while De Jonge, the WCC Player of the Year, will play on court two.
Elsewhere in the roster, Pepperdine has gotten a boost from its underclassmen. Playing primarily on the fifth line, freshman Maxi Homberg (Freising, Germany) has a team-high 23 wins this year in singles play. Homberg clinched the WCC title against San Diego last week and carries a seven-match win streak into the postseason. Homberg and doubles partner Eero Vasa (Turku, Finland) also were All-WCC honorable mention selections in doubles.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Last week in the Conference USA title game, the Roadrunners fell 4-0 to Middle Tennessee State, which pulled off a four-peat with the win. Yet the Roadrunners' 14-match win streak midway through the season with wins over NCAA Tournament teams VCU, UT Arlington and Texas A&M were enough to earn an at-large berth. This year is UTSA's fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since 2015.
UTSA's nationally ranked team of Alan Magadan and Sebastian Rodriguez highlights the scouting report for the Roadrunners. The duo, which ranks 36th in the nation, has a 14-8 record this season and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament earlier this week. Magadan also has the best singles record for the Roadrunners with a 14-7 record playing primarily on the second line. Elsewhere in singles, Danijal Muminovic has a 13-7 record on the fifth line.
The Waves and Roadrunners share common opponents in Texas, UC Santa Barbara, Gonzaga, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. UTSA fell 5-2 to UCSB, which Pepperdine beat 4-3, but prevailed 4-3 against a then-49th-ranked Texas A&M squad. Both teams have lost to Texas and beat Gonzaga this season.
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UP NEXT: If Pepperdine advances, it will play the winner between #1 Texas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.
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Players Mentioned
