Pepperdine University
California
#4 Waves Host #12 Golden Bears on Sunday
3/16/2024 12:07:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. — Returning to Malibu after playing its last two matches on the road, the #4 Pepperdine women's tennis team will host #12 California at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Sunday. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Sunday's match is the first half of a doubleheader with the men's team, who hosts #2 Texas Christian University at 3 p.m. All matches will be live-streamed via PlaySight, and admission to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center is free to the public. Live stream and live stat links can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
MATCH 12: #4 Pepperdine (8-3, 1-0 West Coast Conference) vs. #12 California (7-2, 2-0 Pac 12) | 11 a.m. | Malibu, Calif. | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
SCOUTING THE WAVES
After splitting a pair of road indoor matches against top-10 Big Ten teams, the Pepperdine Waves rose to No. 4 in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association team polls — the program's highest ranking since last April. The Waves' aggressive non-conference schedule has paid off for Per Nilsson's squad, which has five wins over top-20 teams heading into this weekend.
In last week's win over #9 Ohio State and its loss to #2 Michigan, Pepperdine won the doubles point both times by going a perfect 4-0 across the two matches.
While Pepperdine's doubles success starts with the nation's second-ranked doubles team of Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen, the Waves found success elsewhere in the lineup last week. Playing at the third position, Jasmine Conway and Lisa Zaar go 2-0 in doubles, earning them the West Coast Conference's Doubles Team of the Week honors. To their credit, Nikki Redelijk and Vivian Yang helped the Waves win the doubles point against Michigan with their win at the second position; against the Buckeyes, the duo was tied in an unfinished match.
Of Pepperdine's five nationally ranked singles players, none enter the weekend on a winning streak like #100 Janice Tjen. Riding a seven-match win streak at the third position, Tjen has three ranked singles opponents during that stretch and has won all seven matches in straight sets. Prior to last Sunday's loss at #2 Michigan, Tjen, #13 Zaar and #6 Broadus went 16-1 during Pepperdine's six-match win streak.
Elsewhere in the lineup, the Waves got contributions from #99 Nikki Redelijk at the fifth position during the Waves' win over Ohio State. True freshman Conway has also helped the Waves with five singles wins at the fifth and sixth positions.
Last time against the Golden Bears, the Waves won 4-2 in their first consolation match in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Pepperdine won the doubles point with wins from Broadus and Tjen — who beat Cal's #16 Mao Mushika and Hannah Viller Moeller in a 6-2 rout — and Conway and Zaar at the third position. From there, the Waves rolled with straight-set singles wins from its top three, none of which were particularly close matches.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS
Capping off its two-match road swing against WCC opponents, the Golden Bears come to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Saturday after playing at #15 San Diego on Saturday.
Ever since falling to the Waves in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the #12 Golden Bears have rattled off five wins in a row. Save for a 4-3 road win over Arizona State, the matches haven't been particularly close. Thanks to having seven nationally ranked singles players — four of whom are in the top 50 — and two nationally ranked doubles teams, the Golden Bears jumped five spots in the latest ITA team rankings to sit at twelfth in the nation.
Led by No. 14 Hannah Viller Moeller and Mao Mushika's 4-2 record at the first position, the Golden Bears have only lost the doubles point twice this season — coincidentally, one of those times was against Pepperdine. In singles, Viller Moeller checks in at No. 23 in the latest ITA rankings; she is followed by #35 Jessica Alsola, #36 Katja Wiersholm, #46 Valentina Ivanov, #92 Mushika, #107 Berta Passola Folch and #109 Lan Mi. Going into this weekend, Mushika, Alsola and Passola Folch all have 17 singles wins in 2023-24 to lead the Golden Bears.
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Players Mentioned
