MALIBU, Calif. — After playing 11 home dual matches over the past three months, the #42 Pepperdine men's tennis team wraps up its home matches with a West Coast Conference doubleheader this Sunday against San Francisco and Portland.
First serve for the match against San Francisco is at 9 a.m. while the match against Portland is scheduled for 1 p.m. Due to Sunday's weather forecast, both matches will begin with singles play. Seniors George Davis, Tyler Davis, Pietro Fellin and Robert Shelton will be honored after the second match. Both matches will be livestreamed via PlaySight, and admission to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center is free to the public. All pertinent links can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
Pepperdine has won its last five matches against Portland and its last four against San Francisco. Additionally, the Waves have commanding leads in both all-time series; they are 14-3 against Portland and 25-2 against San Francisco. Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center has also been a favorable home for the Waves in WCC play, as they have gone 19-3 in home WCC matches under head coach Adam Schaechterle.
MATCH 20: #42 Pepperdine (9-10, 3-1 WCC) vs. San Francisco (6-11, 0-5 WCC) | Sunday, April 14 | 9 a.m. | Ralphs Straus Tennis Center | Malibu, Calif.
MATCH 21: #42 Pepperdine (9-10, 3-1 WCC) vs. Portland (10-6, 3-2 WCC) | Sunday, April 14 | 1 p.m. | Ralphs Straus Tennis Center | Malibu, Calif.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Sitting at 3-1 in WCC play with four matches to go, the Pepperdine Waves are in a much different position than the one they were in last week. Thanks to #47 Pacific upsetting #15 San Diego last Sunday, the Waves are still in the hunt for a WCC regular-season title if they win out.
Thankfully for the Waves, they come into this weekend with positive momentum after last week's shutout wins over LMU and #58 Santa Clara. In both 4-0 sweeps, Pepperdine's doubles teams rose to the occasion, the top of the lineup went 4-0 and the back half of the singles lineup clinched both matches to help the Waves establish themselves at the top of the WCC standings.
In singles, Pepperdine's Edward Winter checked in at No. 46 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Rankings after going 2-0 at the first position last week. Both of Winter's wins last week were in straight sets, including a 7-5, 6-1 win over #81 Christian Lerby of Santa Clara last Sunday. Rejoining him in the rankings is #121 Pietro Fellin, who has a team-best six-match win streak going into this weekend. His 3-0 record against WCC opponents leads the team; all three of his singles matches have been in straight sets.
Last week against LMU and Santa Clara, the fifth and sixth positions of Pepperdine's lineup came through once again for the Waves by going 3-0. Zach Stephens clinched both matches for the Waves on court six with straight-set wins, bringing his record to 8-4 this year. Robert Shelton is also 2-0 at the fifth position after last weekend's matches.
Another positive development from last weekend was winning both doubles points in dominant fashion. All three doubles teams won their matches by a break or more against LMU, then against Santa Clara, Chris Papa and Stephens improved their record against WCC opponents to 3-0 against Santa Clara. At the second position, Winter and Fellin lead the team with nine wins in dual match play at the second position.
SCOUTING THE DONS
Several weeks ago, the match between the 5-11 Dons and the Waves offered very few storylines. Now, however, the tenor of Sunday's match has changed: Last Friday, the USF athletic department announced it will be discontinuing the men's and women's tennis teams at the end of the year.
For head coach JT Sundling and the seven members of the Dons tennis team, this week's matches at LMU on Friday and Pepperdine on Sunday are the last road matches of the regular season. San Francisco is still searching for its first WCC win, yet the Dons enter the weekend on a winning streak after beating UC Santa Cruz 7-0 last Saturday.
Former Arizona State Sun Devil Mortiz Hoffman has been USF's most successful singles player this season with a 9-6 record at the first position, while freshman Asaf Friedler matches Hoffman with nine singles wins while playing mostly at the fourth position. Friedler comes into this weekend with a five-match win streak — which leads the team — and is a perfect 2-0 against WCC opponents.
In doubles, the Dons have won the doubles point four times against Division I opponents and just once in conference play (against Pacific on March 26). USF's team of Friedler and Roman Lafond lead the team with six doubles wins, most of which have come at the third position.
SCOUTING THE PILOTS
Picked to finish fifth in the WCC preseason poll, the Pilots have a 3-2 record and are currently fourth in the conference standings after last week's 4-1 loss to Pacific. So far, the Pilots have struggled on the road, going 1-5 away from home and with no road wins in WCC play. Like USF, Portland is playing Pepperdine on the tail end of a two-match road trip; the Pilots take on #15 San Diego on Friday at noon.
Going into this weekend, the Pilots have three players with nine dual-match singles wins: Maxim Groysman, Nikola Keremedchiev and Nicolas Ocana. Groysman and Keremedchiev bolster the back half of Portland's lineup at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, while Ocana has played all but one of his 15 matches at the second position. Ocana, Portland's top singles player Oscar Brown and Luka Vukovic all lead the team with 3-1 records against WCC opponents.
Portland has found some success in doubles, as the Pilots have won the doubles point in all three of their conference wins and in three of their last four matches. Brown and Stefan Skobelev are 8-4 while playing mostly at the third position — which leads the team — while Vukovic and Nikolas Tvedt have a 6-5 record at the first position.
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