Pepperdine University
Loyola Marymount
#7 Pepperdine Faces off with PCH Cup Rival LMU on Friday
2/28/2024 3:38:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. — Playing its first match in Malibu in over a month, the #7 Pepperdine women's tennis team hosts crosstown rival LMU for its first West Coast Conference match on Friday. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
The match will be live-streamed via PlaySight, and admission to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center is free to the public. All pertinent live stream and live stat links can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
The Waves have a 43-2 record against the Lions — including a perfect 24-0 record in Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. Both teams met in the championship match of the WCC Tournament last April, which resulted in a 4-0 Pepperdine sweep. LMU's last win in the PCH Cup rivalry series was a 4-3 home win in 2003. Pepperdine hasn't lost a dual match against a conference opponent since the 2014-15 season.
MATCH 9: #7 Pepperdine (6-2) vs. LMU (2-4, 1-0 WCC) | 1 p.m. | Malibu, Calif. | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Carrying a four-match win streak — all against top-15 opponents — into Friday's match, the #7 Waves begin their quest for their 43rd regular season WCC title against the Lions.
With five ranked singles players and the nation's third-ranked doubles team in Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen, the Waves set a high standard among WCC teams. After going 2-0 in neutral-site wins over #11 Auburn and #15 Florida last weekend, Pepperdine rose to seventh in the ITA team rankings this week.
Individually, the Waves swept the WCC's weekly awards for the third time this season as #8 Broadus went 2-0 against ranked opponents at the second position, while she and Tjen clinched the doubles point for the Waves in both matches last weekend. In doubles, Broadus and Tjen have a perfect 6-0 record in dual match play this spring, while Pepperdine got recent contributions from Nikki Redelijk and Vivian Yang, plus Lisa Zaar and Jasmine Conway — both of which picked up wins last weekend.
Over in singles, the Waves' top three of #13 Zaar, #8 Broadus and #102 Tjen have a combined 13-2 record over the last five matches. Of those three, Tjen is on a five-match win streak dating back to ITA Indoor Nationals — all of which have come in straight sets. Elsewhere in the lineup, #120 Anna Campana went 2-0 last weekend at the fourth position, while #96 Redelijk rounds out Pepperdine's ranked singles players at the fifth position.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Picked to finish third in the preseason WCC polls, the Lions took their lumps in non-conference play before beating Pacific 4-1 in their conference opener on Tuesday.
LMU has no ranked singles or doubles players. In singles, Isabella Tcherkes-Zade and Kim-Michaela Zahraj lead the Lions with 3-1 records; they are also LMU's lone singles players over .500 so far. Elsewhere in the lineup, Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik earned a spot on the WCC's preseason team and was an honorable mention singles selection last year. She has yet to play singles this spring, but she has made appearances in doubles.
The Lions won their first doubles point of the season against Pacific thanks to wins from Tcherkes-Zade and Carolota Molina, plus a clinching win from Fiona Arrese and Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik. Both teams picked up their first wins of the season in that match.
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Players Mentioned
