AUSTIN, Texas — The #32 Pepperdine men's tennis team's season came to a close on Sunday afternoon as the Waves fell 4-0 to the top-seeded Texas Longhorns in Austin.
The Waves (19-9, 8-1 WCC) played the nation's top team close in doubles and threatened to push three singles matches to a third set, yet the Longhorns (24-3, 5-0 Big 12) clinched on court five with a 6-3, 7-5 victory. This season marked the third-straight year in which the Waves reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Texas struck first by winning a close doubles point on threes, then the Longhorns finished the job as their #3 ranked team of Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper overcame Pepperdine's team of #64 Daniel De Jonge (Vlissingen, Netherlands) and Tim Zeitvogel (Baden-Baden, Germany) 6-3. Over on court two, Eero Vasa (Turku, Finland) and Maxi Homberg (Freising, Germany) ran out of time as they were knotted in a 5-all tie with #75 Siem Woldeab and Pierre-Yves Bailly.
In singles, Linus Carlsson Halldin (Stockholm, Sweden) and De Jonge notched first-set wins over their opponents on courts six and two, respectively. The Longhorns would win in straight-sets on courts three and four to take a 3-0 lead. Although Zeitvogel forced a third set on the first line against the NCAA's top singles player in Spizzirri, the Longhorns would win 6-2, 7-5 on court five to seal the victory.
Despite the loss, the 2022-23 season was a successful one for the Waves, who overcame San Diego in a rematch of last year's West Coast Conference title game to win their first conference championship in a decade. Under the direction of Adam Schaechterle, Pepperdine had four players earn All-WCC honors, including De Jonge becoming the first Wave to earn WCC Player of the Year honors since 2014. The team's 19 wins were the most since the 2012-13 season, in which Pepperdine won 27 games.
The season isn't over for seniors De Jonge and Zeitvogel, both of whom earned berths to the NCAA singles and doubles tournament in Orlando, Fla., starting May 23. Their pairings and start times have yet to be announced.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
#3 Spizzirri/Harper def. #64 De Jonge/Zeitvogel 6-3
Vasa/Homberg vs. #75 Woldeab/Bailly 5-5, unfinished
Huang/McDonald def. Fellin/Carlsson Halldin 6-4
Order of finish: 3,1
SINGLES
#107 Zeitvogel vs. #1 Spizzirri 3-6 ,7-5, unfinished
#69 De Jonge vs. #28 Bailly 7-5, 3-1, unfinished
#61 Braswell def. Vasa 6-3, 6-3
#54 Woldeab def. Fellin 6-3, 6-4
Harper def. Homberg 6-2, 7-5
Carlsson Halldin vs. Arimilli 7-6 (6), 4-3
Order of finish: 3,4,5*
UP NEXT: De Jonge and Zeitvogel will play in the NCAA singles and doubles tournament starting May 23 in Orlando, Fla. Pairings and start times have yet to be announced.
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
