SEATTLE, Wash. — Playing in the first round of the ITA Indoor Team Championships, #6 Pepperdine Waves were upset by #11 Virginia 5-2 in Seattle on Friday afternoon.
The Cavaliers (7-1) took the doubles point from the Waves (2-2), but Pepperdine answered by taking a 2-1 lead in singles play. With the score tied at 2-2 the back half of Virginia's lineup dealt the knockout blow as the Cavaliers won concurrent matches at the second, fourth and fifth positions.
Savannah Broadus and Janie Tjen breezed through their 6-1 win in roughly 30 minutes. Virginia's team of Melodie Collard and Emma Chervinsky held serve in the first game, but the Waves rattled off the next six games to help give Pepperdine an early advantage in the doubles point.
Although Virginia would even the score with a win at the second position, all eyes turned to court two, where Jasmine Conway and Lisa Zaar clawed back into the match after falling behind a break early. Facing match point, the Waves held on deuce point in the ninth game to extend the match, then won the next three points in the tenth game. Pepperdine broke Virginia's Annabelle Xu and Sara Ziodato to tie the match at five games all, yet the Cavaliers would escape with a 7-5 win.
In singles, the top half of Pepperdine's lineup answered the call early by notching two quick wins after the Cavaliers won on court six. Breezing through her first set with a 6-1 win, #15 Zaar got Pepperdine on the board with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over #101 Annabelle Xu on the first position. Moments later, Tjen capped off a dominant win of her own on court three with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Natasha Subhash to tie the team score at 2-2.
While #106 Nikki Redelijk and #89 Anna Campana fell behind in the first sets of their matches, both veterans charged back in the second set to force tiebreaks. Campana battled back in the second set after trailing early and won a break point in the sixth game to tie the second set at three games all with Elaine Chervinsky. Redelijk, on the other hand, had to fend off #72 Ziodato, who fended off set point three times to force a tiebreak.
As Redelijk and Campana's matches reached an end, #41 Hibah Shaikh was close to completing a three-set comeback over #6 Broadus on the second line. UVA would take a 3-2 lead on the fifth line, then clinch the match when Chervinsky and Shaikh won their matches simultaneously on courts four and two, respectively.
With the result, the Waves will face California in the consolation draw at noon.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #15 Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. #101 Annabelle Xu (UVA) 6-1, 6-3
2. #41 Hibah Shaikh def. #6 Savannah Broadus (PEPP), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
3. Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. Natasha Subhash (UVA) 6-2, 6-4
4. #72 Sara Ziodato #106 Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
5. Elaine Chervinsky def. #89 Anna Campana (PEPP) 6-4, 7-6 (3)
6. #93 Melodie Collard (UVA) def. Jasmine Conway (PEPP) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 6,3,1,5,4,2
Doubles
1. #4 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. #44 Elaine Chervinsky/Melodie Collard (UVA) 6-1
2. #60 Hibah Shaikh/Natahsa Subhash (UVA) def. Nikki Redelijk/Anna Campana (PEPP) 6-1
3. Annabelle Xu/Sara Ziodato (UVA) def. Lisa Zaar/Jasmine Conway (PEPP) 7-5
Order of finish: 2,1,3
UP NEXT: Pepperdine plays California in the consolation draw tomorrow at noon.
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