STILLWATER, Okla. — In a battle between two top-6 teams, the #6 Pepperdine women's tennis team fell short to the #3 Oklahoma State Cowgirls indoors in Stillwater, Okla. on Saturday.
The Waves (2-1) rallied back after losing the doubles point to the Cowgirls (5-0) with singles wins from Lisa Zaar and Savannah Broadus on the first two positions to tie the score at 2-2. Trailing 3-2 with both singles matches in their third sets, the Cowgirls eventually clinched on the sixth line to hand Pepperdine its first loss of the season.
In doubles, Oklahoma State won late breakpoints on the second and third positions and gave themselves insurance by coming back from a 5-1 deficit to go up 6-5 on the first position. OSU would clinch the doubles point with Safiya Carrington and Kristina Novak's 6-4 win on the third line, giving Pepperdine its first doubles point loss since the Waves' Round of 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament against Texas last May.
Pepperdine got on the board quickly in singles, as Zaar breezed through her first set against #13 Anastasiya Komar. Zaar neutralized Komar's big serve throughout the match and won the first two breakpoint opportunities to go up 4-1 in the fifth game. The match was played on serve from that point forward en route to a 6-2 first-set win for Zaar.
In the second, however, both Zaar and Komar traded breaks, then Komar held to take a 2-1 lead. But in the fourth game, Zaar held serve on a critical deuce point, then broke Komar in the next game to swing momentum fully in her favor en route to a 6-2, 6-4 win on the first line. Although Pepperdine got on the board with Zaar's win, the Waves trailed 2-1 after Oklahoma State won on court five.
One court over, #21 Broadus and #2 Ange Oby Kajuru were locked in a stalemate of a second set, which held serve until through the first 10 games. In an attempt to force a third set, Broadus broke through, winning the first break point to take a 6-5 lead. The Pepperdine junior was near-unhittable in the next game: Broadus won the first three points off her serve before Oby Kajuru won her first point of the game. At set point, Broadus rocketed an ace just inside the center service line to cap off her 7-5, second-set win.
From there, the match was all Broadus. She broke Oby Kajuru immediately to start the third set, then went up a break in the second game. The third game was the toughest of the second set, as Broadus broke Oby Kajuru with a forehand winner on deuce point, giving her a commanding 3-0 lead. Broadus was in full control towards the end, capping off a come-from-behind, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 win for her highest-ranked singles win of her career.
With the team score tied at 2-2, Anna Campana forced a third set by forcing a tiebreak after trailing Kristina Novak 3-1 in the second set. The match was played on serve until Campana broke Novak in the eighth game to tie the second set at four games all. She won her fourth straight game to consolidate the break, yet the match was played on serve into the tiebreak. Although Novak had a 4-2 lead at the changeover in the tiebreak, Campana rattled off five straight points to win the second set 7-6 (4) and force a third set.
Campana extending her match was critical. Elsewhere in singles, Nikki Redelijk and Janice Tjen also pushed their matches to three sets as the match hung in the balance between both top-10 teams. Yet Oklahoma State took a 3-2 lead with its three-set win on the third line, then clinched the match with Novak's 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 three-set victory on court six. When the Cowgirls clinched, they were also up in the third set on court four.
RESULTS
Singles
1. Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. #13 Anastasiya Komar (OSU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #21 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) def. #2 Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-0
3. #53 Lucia Peyre (OSU) def. #96 Janice Tjen (PEPP) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. #62 Safiya Carrington (OSU) vs. #77 Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) 6-7 (0), 5-2, 5-4, unfinished
5. #60 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. Jasmine Conway (PEPP) 6-0, 6-3
6. Kristina Novak (OSU) def. #79 Anna Campana (PEPP) 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3
Order of finish: 5,1,2,3,6*
Doubles
1. #6 Anastasiya Komar/Ange Oby Kajuru (OSU) vs. #4 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) 6-5, unfinished
2. Ayumi Miyamoto/Raquel Gonzalez (OSU) def. Lisa Zaar/Vivian Yang (PEPP) 6-4
3. Safiya Carrington/Kristina Novak (OSU) def. Nikki Redelijk/Anna Campana (PEPP) 6-4
Order of finish: 2,3
UP NEXT: Pepperdine plays in the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship, held from Feb. 9-12. The Waves' first-round draw is forthcoming.
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