MALIBU, Calif. — Playing its non-conference finale against Washington, the Pepperdine men's tennis team found a way to outlast the Huskies in a 4-3 home win on Thursday afternoon.
The Waves (6-9) snapped a three-match losing streak — all of which were against top-10 teams — and overcame the Huskies' (6-9) doubles point win thanks to Edward Winter, Pietro Fellin, Zach Stephens and Robert Shelton's singles victories. Pepperdine saw several players come from behind and win matches — whether it was Stephens coming back from facing multiple set points in the first set, Fellin overcoming a first-set loss to win his match in three, or Shelton bouncing back from a close, second-set tiebreak loss in his win. For the second time this season, Shelton clinched the match for Pepperdine with his 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win at the sixth position.
In doubles, Fellin and Winter made their return at the second position for a 6-3 win, which helped the Waves offset Washington's 6-4 win at the first position, in which the Huskies fended off a comeback attempt from Linus Carlsson Halldin and George Davis. The doubles point was up to Chris Papa and Stephens winning their first match as a duo this spring. Although the pair broke the Huskies on deuce point in the tenth game, Washington held on by breaking the Waves, then holding serve for the 7-5 win to clinch the doubles point.
Four Waves won their first sets in singles play, yet four of the six matches would be determined in three sets. At the first position, #35 Winter bolted out to a 4-0 lead in the first set before Washington's Cesar Bouchelaghem held serve in the fifth game. Although Bouchelaghem broke Winter in the next game, Winter broke back for a 5-2 lead before the Washington junior broke Winter again and consolidated the break for a 5-4 lead.
However, Winter held serve to win the first set 6-4, then used that momentum to go up a break in the second set. But Bouchelaghem made another surge by breaking Winter in the sixth game and consolidating the break for a 4-3 lead. Fortunately for Pepperdine, the Waves got on the board thanks to Winter winning the next three games to cap off his 6-4,6-4 win.
None of Pepperdine's first-set wins were easy. After falling behind a break and trailing by three games in the first set, Stephens broke Ivan Sodan for 4-2, but Sodan broke back for a seemingly insurmountable 5-2 lead. Yet the Pepperdine freshman broke Sodan and held on deuce point in the next game before going up 40-0 in the tenth game. Stephens flipped the script on the match by breaking Sodan two points later for a 5-5 tie before winning his fourth-consecutive game to lead 6-5. In the next game, Stephens broke Sodan to cap off his improbable come-from-behind 7-5 win.
Stephens started the second set hot by holding serve in the first game, then winning the first three points in the next two games en route to taking a 3-0 lead. With Stephens up 5-2 in the second set, Sodan tried pulling off an unlikely comeback of his own. And Sodan nearly pulled it off: He held serve in the eighth game, broke Stephens for 5-4, then consolidated the break for a 5-5 tie in the tenth game. Yet Stephens snapped out of his funk, held serve, then broke Sodan to cap off his 7-5, 7-5 straight-set win.
While Stephens was making his comeback attempt on court five, Washington's Dzianis Zharyn and #121 Fellin traded 6-2 wins in the first two sets, pushing the match to a third. Fellin rallied from losing the first set, took the second set 6-2, then shut out Zharyn in the third with his 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory for his first win as a nationally ranked singles player this season.
On court six, Shelton was another Wave who won his first set against Washington's Jim Hendrikx, going up 6-3 with little resistance to give himself an early advantage. But in the second, Hendrikx won the first four games before Shelton rallied. The Pepperdine veteran broke Hendrikx, then consolidated the break to pull within one game, 4-3, before eventually breaking Hendrikx in the 12th game to force a tiebreak.
Hendrikx outlasted Shelton in the tiebreak with a 7-5 win, which gave his Huskies new life; his win bought Washington enough time to tack on two more singles wins on the board with three-set wins at the third and fourth positions. With the score tied 3-3, all eyes were on court six for the third set.
Shelton broke Hendrikx to start the third set, then held on deuce point to go up a break. The match was played on serve until the fifth game when Shelton won another breakpoint opportunity to take a 4-1 lead. Shelton consolidated the break for a 5-1 lead, but Hendrikx held on deuce point in the seventh game before Shelton clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #35 Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Cesar Bouchelaghem (WASH) 6-4, 6-4
2. #121 Pietro Fellin (PEPP) def. Dzianis Zharyn (WASH) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
3. Han-Chih Lin (WASH) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
4. Nedim Suko (WASH) def. George Davis (PEPP) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
5. Zach Stephens (PEPP) def. Ivan Sodan (WASH) 7-5, 7-5
6. Robert Shelton (PEPP) def. Jim Hendrikx (WASH) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2
Order of finish: 1,2,5,4,3,6*
Doubles
1. Cesar Bouchelaghem/Dzianis Zharyn (WASH) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin/George Davis (PEPP) 6-4
2. Pietro Fellin/Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Nedim Suko/Brett Pearson (WASH) 6-3
3. Heman Nama/Ivan Sodan (WASH) def. Chris Papa/Zach Stephens (PEPP) 7-5
Order of finish: 1,2,3
UP NEXT: Pepperdine opens West Coast Conference play against Gonzaga on Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m.
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