COLUMBUS, Ohio — Bolstering its impressive non-conference resume, the #8 Pepperdine women's tennis team beat #9 Ohio State 4-2 for the Waves' sixth-straight win on Friday.
With the win over the Buckeyes (7-5), the Waves (8-2, 1-0 WCC) notched their first victory over a top-10 opponent since beating #5 Michigan 4-0 last March. They are now 5-2 against teams ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls.
For the fourth straight match, Pepperdine won the doubles point with two convincing wins. Jasmine Conway and Lisa Zaar got Pepperdine on the board first with a 6-1 win over Akanksha Bhan and Audrey Spencer at the third position. In the final game, Zaar's serve flummoxed the Buckeyes, and the duo earned their third straight victory.
Meanwhile, on court one, Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen clinched the doubles point once again with their seventh win over a ranked team. The nation's second-ranked doubles team went up 4-1, yet Ohio State's #32 Luciana Perry and Sydni Ratliff broke the Waves on deuce point, then consolidated the break to pull within one game of Pepperdine. But Broadus and Tjen held serve and won the first three points of the ninth game en route to breaking the Buckeyes for the 6-3 win.
The Buckeyes battled back early in singles play, as Ohio State and Pepperdine players won three first sets each and two courts came down to the third sets. One constant for the Waves was #6 Broadus, who bolted out to a 6-3, first-set win en route to beating Sydni Ratliff 6-3, 6-2.
With a 2-0 advantage, the Buckeyes got on the board with a win at the sixth position before #99 Nikki Redelijk rallied for a straight-set victory on court five. Redelijk bounced back from an early deficit and won three straight games en route to a 7-5 first-set victory. She then broke Chavez immediately in the second set, then went up a break and didn't look back in her 7-5, 6-1 win.
Needing just one win on the next three courts to clinch the match, Pepperdine had a minor setback on court four as the Buckeyes won another singles match to make the score 3-2. Courts one and three saw #13 Zaar and #100 Tjen bounce back from dropping their first sets to bring their matches into the third sets.
In a battle between two top-15 singles players, #12 Irina Cantos Siemers of Ohio State won the first set 6-4, but Pepperdine's 13th-ranked graduate senior Zaar evened the score with a 6-2 second-set win. Zaar trailed 3-1 in the first set, but broke Cantos and consolidated the break to tie the set at 3-3. Facing deciding point in the next game, Zaar broke Cantos with a backhand return that Cantos sent into the net. The fifth-year senior consolidated the break in the next game, then broke Cantos to not only cap off her 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory, but also clinch the 4-2 win for Pepperdine.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #13 Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. #12 Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. #6 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) def. Sydni Ratliff (OSU) 6-3, 6-2
3. #55 Luciana Perry (OSU) vs. #100 Janice Tjen (PEPP) 4-6, 6-4, 4-1, unfinished
4. Shelly Bereznyak (OSU) def. #117 Anna Campana (PEPP) 6-3, 6-4
5. #99 Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) def. Teah Chavez (OSU) 7-5, 6-1
6. Audrey Spencer (OSU) def. Vivian Yang (PEPP) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 2,6,5,4,1*
Doubles
1. #2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. #32 Luciana Perry/Sydni Ratliff (OSU) 6-3
2. Irina Cantos Siemers/Shelly Bereznyak (OSU) vs. Nikki Redelijk/Vivian Yang (PEPP) 3-3, unfinished
3. Lisa Zaar/Jasmine Conway (PEPP) def. Akanksha Bhan/Audrey Spencer (OSU) 6-1
Order of finish: 3,1
UP NEXT: Pepperdine continues its road swing against top-10 Big Ten opponents with a match at #2 Michigan this Sunday. First serve is scheduled for 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. local time.
FOLLOW: Follow @WavesTennis on Facebook and X for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
