MALIBU Calif. — Playing in its fourth-straight super regionals round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament, the #9 Pepperdine Waves will face #8 Texas in Austin at 10 a.m. PT on Saturday.
The Waves, who are the tournament's last school standing from outside the Power-5 ranks, are looking to punch their tickets to Orlando, Fla. for the NCAA Quarterfinals, which will take place on May 17. Saturday's clash against Texas is a rematch of the 2021 national title game, in which Texas won 4-3.
MATCH 24: #9 Pepperdine (20-3, 7-0 WCC) vs. #8 Texas (23-4, 8-1 Big 12) | Saturday, May 13 | 10 a.m. PT | Texas Tennis Center | Austin, Texas
COVERAGE
A live stream of Saturday's match will be available for free via PlaySight. Live stream and live stat links for the match can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
SERIES HISTORY
Pepperdine and Texas have crossed paths four times in the NCAA Tournament, with the most recent meeting being held in the aforementioned 2021 title game. Prior to that, Pepperdine swept the Longhorns in the third round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, lost 4-1 in the first round in 2009 and won 5-2 in the first round of the 1988 NCAA Tournament. Texas has a 13-15 advantage in the all-time series.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Reaching the super regional for the fourth-straight year Pepperdine is coming off its twelfth-straight win over crosstown rival #24 USC, who they beat 4-1 in Malibu last Saturday. Before that, the Waves made quick work of the WAC champion Grand Canyon University Antelopes with a 4-0 sweep. All told, the Waves carry a seven-match win streak into Austin while only giving up one point in its last five games.
The stars for Pepperdine have shone as of late, as the nation's #1 doubles team of Janice Tjen (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Savannah Broadus (Carrollton, Texas) have a three-match win streak — including a big win over USC's #18 duo of Eryn Cayetano and Madison Sieg last weekend. Over in singles, #19 Broadus still has a perfect 21-0 record in dual singles play, while #16 Tjen — the 2023 WCC Player of the Year — has won her last four matches, including a thrilling clinch point on court three for the Waves against the Trojans.
Elsewhere in the lineup, #108 Nikki Redelijk (Windermere, Fla.) has a 12-match win streak while playing primarily in the fifth position. Senior #31 Lisa Zaar (Stockholm, Sweden) has a 10-match win streak of her own, plus she and doubles partner Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand) are ranked #59 in the latest ITA polls. Finally, Anna Campana (Hillsborough, Calif.) was one of three Waves to go 2-0 in singles play during the team's NCAA Tournament run. She has beaten her last two opponents in straight sets on the sixth line.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Winners of the last two national titles, Texas has shown no significant signs of slowing down this season with a 12-3 record against nationally ranked opponents — most of which have come in the highly competitive Big 12 Conference. Yet the Longhorns won their third-straight Big 12 Tournament title with wins over #49 TCU, #18 Oklahoma State and #14 Oklahoma. Pepperdine has beaten both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State this season.
Hosting the first two rounds in the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and #34 San Diego with ease.
In the latest iteration of the ITA's national rankings, Texas has one ranked doubles team in #26 Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova, who have a 12-5 record. While Texas has no singles players in the top 70, the Longhorns are deep with #74 Nicole Khirin, #95 Chavatipon, #104 Marlee Zein, #116 Zeynalova and #121 Grace Thomas all making the latest ITA singles rankings.
Elsewhere, one familiar face for the Waves is former player Taisiya Pachkaleva, who plays primarily on the fourth line for the Longhorns. Pachkaleva was a true freshman on Pepperdine's national-runner-up team in 2021 and played another full season for the Waves in 2022 before transferring east this season.
NEXT UP: If the Waves win, they will play the winner of #1 North Carolina and #16 Florida, who face off on Friday, May 12. The NCAA Quarterfinals is scheduled for Wednesday, May 17 at a time that has yet to be determined.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
