MALIBU, Calif. — Punching its ticket to the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship, the #6 Pepperdine women's tennis team swept LSU 4-0 to cap off the ITA Kickoff Weekend, held at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Saturday.
The Waves (2-0) sealed their eighth-straight trip to the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship with Lisa Zaar's 6-0, 6-4 win over LSU's phenom freshman #56 Kinaa Graham, which gave Zaar her third win over a ranked singles opponent of the spring season. Competition in Seattle will take place from Feb. 9-12 at the University of Washington.
Although the Tigers would get on the board first with a doubles win on the second line, the Waves evened the score with #4 Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen posting a 6-4 win on court one. Nikki Redelijk and Anna Campana would earn the doubles point for the Waves by beating Kenna Erickson and Maya Tahan 6-3.
Pepperdine won the singles point thanks to the efforts of two true freshmen: Jasmine Conway and Vivian Yang. Taking the court in singles for the first time at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, Yang cruised to a straight-set, 6-0, 6-1 win on the sixth line to give Pepperdine a 2-0 advantage. Shortly thereafter, Conway notched her second singles win in as many days by beating Maya Tahan 6-3, 6-0.
All eyes turned to the top of Pepperdine's lineup, as Zaar and #21 Broadus won the first sets of their matches and were heading towards straight-set wins of their own. Zaar would wrap things up, however, punching the team's ticket to Seattle with her aforementioned 6-0, 6-4 win.
Matchups for the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship are forthcoming.
RESULTS
Singles
1. Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. #56 Kinaa Graham (LSU) 6-0, 6-4
2. #21 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) vs. Florentine Dekkers (LSU) 6-4, 5-1, unfinished
3. #96 Janice Tjen (PEPP) vs. Aran Teixido Garcia (LSU) 7-5, 1-4, unfinished
4. #77 Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) vs. Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 5-7, 1-0, unfinished
5. Jasmine Conway (PEPP) def. Maya Tahan (LSU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. Emma Grant (LSU) 6-0, 6-1
Order of finish: 6,5,1*
Doubles
1. #4 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. Kinaa Graham/Anita Sahdiieva (LSU) 6-4
2. Florintine Dekkers/Aran Teixido Garcia def. Vivian Yang/Lisa Zaar (PEPP) 6-3
3. Anna Campana/Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) def. Kenna Erickson/Maya Tahan(LSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 2,1,3
UP NEXT: Before the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship, the Waves will head to Stillwater, Okla. to play #3 Oklahoma State on Feb. 3.
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