Pepperdine University
Freeman Memorial Championship
Pepperdine Begins Spring Season at the Freeman Memorial Tournament
1/10/2024 11:06:00 AM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. — For the third-consecutive season, the Pepperdine women's tennis team will begin its spring season at the Freeman Memorial Tournament, hosted by UNLV from Jan. 12-14.
The matches will not be live-streamed, nor will there be a link to live scores. However, updates will be provided via the @WavesTennis X and Instagram accounts, plus final results will be posted after each day. Doubles action begins at 10 a.m. each day, followed by singles. This season, there are two flights of doubles and five flights of singles; draws will be released on Thursday.
Aside from the No. 8 Waves, a loaded field consisting of No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Florida and No. 16 UCLA, will compete alongside the hosting UNLV Runnin' Rebels. Later this season, Pepperdine will play dual matches against Oklahoma State, Florida and UCLA, which makes this weekend a preview of sorts for matches to come.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Like all seasons under head coach Per Nilsson, expectations are high in Malibu. Picked No. 8 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason poll and selected as the favorites to win the West Coast Conference, the Waves return five of their six players from last year's 20-4 team that made the round of 16.
Of those returners, three are All-Americans: junior Savannah Broadus, senior Janice Tjen and fifth-year Lisa Zaar — all of whom made the West Coast Conference's preseason team earlier this week. Nikki Redelijk and Anna Campana were consistent contributors to the back end of Pepperdine's lineup, while Campana looks to make a leap this year after going 11-3 in fall singles play.
Although Tjen and Zaar spent most of their fall seasons playing on tour or overseas, the Waves had four singles players in the latest ITA singles polls: Broadus (No. 21), Redelijk (No. 77), Campana (No. 79) and Tjen (No. 96). Despite playing in only one tournament in the fall, Broadus and Tjen checked in at No. 4 in the final doubles rankings.
Blue-chip freshmen Vivian Yang and Jasmine Conway are new to the team this year, both of whom will be looking to vie for the sixth spot in the lineup and give Pepperdine much-needed depth after the Waves played the majority of the spring season with just six players.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Led by the nation's No. 2 singles player in Ange Oby Kajuru, Oklahoma State has five singles players ranked in the top 70 and two doubles teams ranked in the top 12. Thanks to an impressive fall season, the Cowgirls rocketed up from No. 19 to No. 6 in the ITA team rankings, making them one of the nation's biggest movers after fall play. Its doubles team of Oby Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar was the runner-up at the ITA Fall National Championships.
Pepperdine has crossed paths with the Cowgirls several times in fall play — most notably when, in an unlikely pairing, Broadus and No. 53 Lucia Peyre teamed up to win the Battle of the Bay doubles title on Sept. 24. Elsewhere, the Waves went 1-3 against Cowgirl opponents in singles. Later this season, Pepperdine will play at Oklahoma State on Feb. 3.
Checking in at No. 10 in the ITA team rankings, the Florida Gators have three ranked singles players, led by No. 23 Emily De Oliviera, who Broadus beat in the first round of the ITA Fall National Championships singles tournament. The Gators also have two ranked doubles teams: No. 38 Malwina Rowinska/Qavia Lopez and No. 55 Bente Spee/Sara Dahlstrom. The two teams will play a neutral-site dual match at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. on Feb. 25.
No love has been lost between the No. 16 UCLA Bruins and Pepperdine, two L.A.-area schools who have duked it out in memorable matches over the years. UCLA brings back reigning NCAA Singles Champions Tian Fangran and five of its top six singles players from its team that made the round of 16 last year. Both Southern California schools will face off in Malibu on April 11 for what should be the biggest regular-season home match for the Waves.
As for UNLV, the Runnin' Rebels won the Mountain West Championship title before getting shipped out to Malibu for the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The program brings back five returners from the team that fell in the first round to USC, including its doubles team of Salsa Aher and Zita Kovacs, which reached the ITA Mountain Region Doubles Semifinal last fall.
UP NEXT: Pepperdine will host San Diego State, LMU and LSU for its first dual matches of spring season in the ITA Fall Kickoff, held from Jan. 26-27.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesTennis on Facebook and X for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
Players Mentioned
