MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine men's tennis team will take a rare trip to SEC country this week, as the Waves visit #28 Vanderbilt and #11 Texas A&M this coming Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Friday's match at Vanderbilt will begin at 10 a.m. PT, while Sunday's match at Texas A&M starts at 11 a.m. PT. Both matches will be livestreamed. All relevant links can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
This week's opponents aren't common ones for the Waves. Pepperdine has faced the Aggies twice under head coach Adam Schaechterle — both of which came during the 2021 and 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekends. Pepperdine has a 9-6 record against Texas A&M with the Waves' last win coming in 2011. As for Vanderbilt, Pepperdine has a 1-1 record against the Commodores; the two teams haven't met since the Waves' 7-0 home sweep of the Dores in 2012.
MATCH 7: Pepperdine (1-5) at #28 Vanderbilt (8-2) | Friday, Feb. 23 | 10 a.m. PT | Nashville, Tenn.
MATCH 8: Pepperdine at #11 Texas A&M (7-2) | Sunday, Feb. 25 | 11 a.m. PT | College Station, Texas
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Making its second road trip of the spring season, Pepperdine is looking to snap out of a five-match losing skid this week.
In Pepperdine's last match against UCLA this past Sunday, the Waves rebounded from winning the doubles point, yet came up empty in a 4-3 home loss to the Bruins. Pietro Fellin picked up his first win at the second singles position this past Sunday; he has a team-best 4-1 record this year. Maxi Homberg's straight-set win at the fourth position was his third of the spring season, while Zach Stephens picked up his first singles victory at the fifth position.
The Waves have one nationally ranked singles player in #34 Edward Winter and one ranked doubles team in #53 Homberg/Winter. As a team, Pepperdine checked in at #70 in the latest ITA rankings.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
Winners of four of their last five matches, the #28 Vanderbilt Commodores Friday is Vanderbilt's fifth home match in a seven-match homestand stretching back to Feb. 4. The Dores are 7-1 at home with their lone loss being a 4-1 loss against a top-20 Michigan State team on Feb. 17.
In doubles, the Dores have won the doubles point in seven of their 10 matches. In dual match play, Vanderbilt has relied on five different doubles teams, two of which have perfect 4-0 records: Joubert Klopper and Michael Ross; plus Klopper and Danil Panarin. Jeremie Casabon and Nathan Cox have held down the No. 1 doubles position all year, yet the duo has a 4-3 record.
Vanderbilt has no ranked singles or doubles players. The Dores have gotten most of their production from the bottom half of the lineup, as the team has a 24-1 record from positions four through six. Further down the lineup, Jeremie Casabon has a perfect 9-0 record playing at primarily the fifth position, while Hugo Coquelin has a 3-0 record at the sixth position.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Playing its first match since the ITA National Indoor Championships, #11 Texas A&M looks to rebound after going 1-2 in New York City last weekend. Despite upsetting #4 South Carolina 4-1, the Aggies closed out the tournament with losses to #2 TCU and #14 Arizona.
The Aggies have four nationally ranked singles players — #69 Raphael Perot, #86 Giulio Perego, #87 Togan Tokac, and #94 JC Roddick — and one nationally ranked doubles team in #57 Tiago Pires and Perot. In doubles, the Aggies have trotted out six different teams so far, with the aforementioned #57 Pires and Perot notching a team-high five wins. The duo has played the majority of their matches at the third position this spring.
In singles, Perot leads the Aggies with a 6-3 record at the first position this spring. Over the weekend, Perot clinched the match in Texas A&M's upset win over South Carolina with his 6-4. 7-6 (8) straight-set win over #50 Toby Samuel. Yet the player with the most momentum right now is Tokac, who has won his last four singles matches at the third position.
Texas A&M and Pepperdine have one common opponent: UCLA. The Aggies eked out a 4-3 win over the Bruins in Los Angeles during their season opener on Jan. 17. So far, the Aggies are undefeated at home with a 2-0 record.
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