MALIBU, Calif. — Hitting the road for two top-10 matchups, the #8 Pepperdine women's tennis team faces #9 Ohio State and #2 Michigan this Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Friday's match begins at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. local time, while Sunday's match is scheduled for 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. local time. Both matches will be live-streamed. All pertinent live stream and live stat links are on the women's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
This weekend gives Pepperdine two more prime opportunities to stack itself up against NCAA title-caliber teams. Historically, the Waves are looking for their first win over the Buckeyes since 2001, whereas Pepperdine has fared better against Michigan; the Waves lead the all-time series 7-2 and have won the last four matches.
MATCH 10: #8 Pepperdine (7-2) at #9 Ohio State (7-4) | 3 p.m. PT | Columbus, Ohio | Ty Tucker Tennis Center
MATCH 11: #8 Pepperdine (7-2) at #2 Michigan (11-3) | 9 a.m. PT | Ann Arbor, Mich. | Varsity Tennis Center
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Winners of their last five matches, the #8 Waves will once again face off against top-10 opponents away from Malibu. Since falling to then-No. 11 Virginia in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, Pepperdine has blown out its opponents — including four convincing wins against top-16 teams — during its win streak.
While the singles roster of #6 Savannah Broadus, #13 Lisa Zaar and #100 Janice Tjen continue to rack up wins at a torrid pace, the Waves have gotten a lift from the middle of the lineup as #120 Anna Campana is on a three-match win streak while playing on the fourth through sixth positions. Last weekend against LMU, freshmen Jasmine Conway and Vivian Yang picked up their first West Coast Conference singles wins of their careers.
Pepperdine's doubles success begins with Broadus and Tjen — the nation's No. 2 doubles team that has a stellar 7-0 record in dual match play. The duo has six wins over ranked opponents this spring but will face a tough test at the first position against Ohio State and Michigan this weekend. Elsewhere in doubles, Conway and Zaar have a two-match win streak heading into this weekend, but are holding steady with a 3-3 record in dual-match play.
SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
Looking to extend its win streak after beating #29 Washington 4-1 on Sunday, #9 Ohio State is going for its second win over a top-10 opponent this season. The #9 Buckeyes have been a top-10 team for the past three weeks and have been ranked as high as seventh, yet a three-match losing skid against #2 Stanford, #10 Texas and #35 Arizona State caused a mid-February slide for head coach Melissa Schaub's crew.
Ohio State has two nationally ranked singles players: #12 Irina Cantos Siemers and #55 Luciana Perry, the latter of whom is enjoying a career-best ranking in the ITA polls. However, junior Shelly Bereznyak has the longest win streak heading into Friday; she has won her last six singles matches while playing at the fourth and fifth positions.
In doubles, Ohio State has four ranked doubles teams — three of which involve Perry. Cantos Siemers and Perry are the No. 28 doubles team in the nation, while Perry and Sydni Ratliff are No. 32, plus Perry and Audrey Spencer are No. 56. Cantos Siemers and Ratliff round out the overlap-heavy ranked OSU doubles teams at No. 80. Despite the versatility of its doubles teams, Ohio State has lost the doubles point in four out of its last five matches.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
With a three-match win streak heading into this weekend, the #2 Wolverines look to fare better against a Southern California team at home on Sunday. Prior to their current win streak, the Wolverines were upset by USC 4-2 at home on Feb. 18, yet Michigan has rebounded considerably with a 4-1 win over then-No. 5 NC State and two wins over Columbia and Hawai'i.
Michigan has five singles players on win streaks heading into this weekend and, like Pepperdine, the Wolverines have five nationally ranked singles players: #5 Kari Miller, #18 Julia Fliegner, #44 Gala Mesochoritou, #61 Lily Jones and #81 Jaedan Brown. Mesochoritou and Piper Charney — whose older sister Emma plays for USC — lead the team with nine wins apiece.
Michigan has one lone doubles team, but it's a formidable one. Miller and Brown are the No. 4 doubles team in the latest ITA rankings; they have a 5-3 record in dual match play and a 14-6 record in 2023-24. The Wolverines are 9-0 when they win the doubles point.
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