Pepperdine University
LMU
#6 Waves Ready for WCC Women's Tennis Tournament
4/23/2024 2:20:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. — After clinching the program's eighth-straight West Coast Conference regular-season title, the #6 Pepperdine women's tennis team looks to claim its tenth consecutive WCC Tournament title in San Diego this weekend.
Like last season, the WCC Tournament will be held on the campus of San Diego State at the Aztec Tennis Center. Pepperdine received a first-round bye to the semifinals, where it will face the winner between 4-seed LMU and 5-seed Saint Mary's on Friday, April 26 at 1:30 p.m. Should the Waves win on Friday, they will play in the championship match on Saturday, April 27 at 2 p.m.
Matches will be livestreamed via Track Tennis. All pertinent links and other information can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com and the WCC's website.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine is on a roll.
Clinching its 12th-straight WCC regular-season title last weekend, the Waves have won their last four matches heading into the WCC Tournament. Per Nilsson's squad has handled WCC competition with ease: The Waves swept all six conference opponents — a feat the program hasn't achieved since 2017 — and individually, the players have had one three-set match against conference opponents in the month of April.
A 44th WCC title and the program's 32nd WCC Tournament title are at stake this weekend, yet the Waves are playing for more than another trophy. At sixth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, Pepperdine can wrap up a potential NCAA Super Regional bid if it stays ranked in the top eight — but that also depends on the results of this weekend's Pac-12 Tournament. As long as Pepperdine does its part and wins the title, the odds are in the Waves' favor.
With five singles players in the latest ITA rankings and the nation's second-ranked doubles team in Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen, Pepperdine's roster looks poised to take a deep postseason run. Individually, senior #80 Nikki Redelijk heads to San Diego having won her last seven matches — which leads the team — and has seen action at the fourth spot in the lineup recently.
While #12 Lisa Zaar is Pepperdine's top-ranked singles player, the Waves' top three of her, #42 Janice Tjen and reigning WCC Singles Player of the Week #14 Broadus all have the talent and expertise to be the number one singles player for Pepperdine. Some top-heavy teams might be able to hang with one of two of them, but having a player like Broadus at the third spot in the lineup has given teams fits in WCC play. Throw in fifth-year senior #79 Anna Campana at the fifth position, and the Waves boast a group of accomplished veterans that is uncommon in college tennis.
Not to be overlooked, Pepperdine's freshmen Vivian Yang and Jasmine Conway both saw more time in the spotlight this past week. Yang, in particular, shut down both her opponents at the sixth position with straight-set wins last week; her 6-3, 6-3 win at the sixth position clinched the match over USD, which effectively won the Waves the WCC regular-season title. Conway also went 2-0, and her 6-4, 6-4 win over Sofia Daryaie of Saint Mary's capped off Pepperdine's perfect season last Saturday. This weekend will give both freshmen a sneak peek of the high-stakes, postseason matches they will experience in the NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Anyone familiar with WCC tennis knows this tournament has historically been centered around the Waves. Pepperdine has never failed to reach the title match ever since the conference adopted the dual match format in 1995. The real question is which team will be on the opposite side of the net.
After a swoon in the 2010s, San Diego appears to have reemerged as a formidable foil for the Waves. This season the Toreros are a bonafide top-25 team, boast wins over Texas A&M and USC and were dominating WCC teams until they faced Pepperdine in Malibu last Friday. However, the Toreros were poised to be the best non-Pepperdine team last season before getting upset 4-3 by LMU in last year's semifinals.
This year, USD is looking for redemption. Although the Toreros have all but sealed a NCAA Tournament resume, an upset win over Pepperdine would be a satisfying end to the WCC slate in light of their 4-0 loss earlier this year. Singles players Claudia De Las Heras (#63) and Mia Mack (#68) lead the Toreros as the WCC's only ranked singles players outside Malibu, while fifth-year senior Elizabeth Goldsmith leads the team with 13 dual match wins.
Like its men's team, Pacific enters the WCC Tournament as the 3-seed and needs a WCC Tournament win to make the postseason. Fifth-year senior Klara Kosan — a former top-10 recruit in the state of California — and junior Tomi Main hold down the top two spots in the lineup and are Pacific's best doubles team with 11 dual-match wins this season. Interestingly, the Tigers didn't face Pepperdine or San Diego in the regular season, making them a bit of a wild card in the WCC Tournament.
Elsewhere in the field, 4-seed LMU comes into the tournament winners of its last three matches and is looking to make its second consecutive appearance in the WCC title match. Both 5-seed Saint Mary's and 6-seed Portland are looking to snap losing streaks in San Diego this week; both teams face the uphill battle of beating teams they lost to in the regular season to advance in the WCC Tournament.
THE LAST TIME…
Pepperdine won a WCC Tournament title: 2023 (4-0 over 3-seed LMU)
San Diego won a WCC Tournament title: 2012 (4-2 over 1-seed Pepperdine)
Someone other than Pepperdine or San Diego won a WCC Tournament title: 2010, Saint Mary's
A team won back-to-back WCC Tournament titles: 2022-23 (Pepperdine)
A 1-seed won the WCC Tournament: 2023, Pepperdine
A team from the opening round reached the title match: 2023, 3-seed LMU
Players Mentioned
