SAN DIEGO, Calif. — All season long, the #6 Pepperdine women's tennis team took care of business against its West Coast Conference opponents. They dominated in doubles. They overpowered teams up and down the singles lineup. Throughout the year, the Waves knew they were getting every team's best shot, but they answered the call each time.
None of that changed in the WCC Tournament.
Pepperdine sent its PCH Cup rival LMU packing with a 4-0 sweep in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon, marking the team's 79th consecutive victory over a conference opponent. With the win, the Waves (16-6, 7-0 WCC) will face #23 San Diego in the championship match; the Toreros held off Pacific in a 4-2 win to reach the title match.
If the Waves had any postseason jitters, they weren't apparent. All three Pepperdine doubles teams were up a break or more, plus all six Waves won their first sets en route to the sweep. Jasmine Conway got things started for the Waves in singles, then #80 Nikki Redelijk and #12 Lisa Zaar sealed the deal on courts four and two, respectively, to clinch the match.
In doubles, the nation's second-ranked doubles team of Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen shook off an early break, rattled off the next three games to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish and beat Isabella Tcherkes-Zade and Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik 6-3 at the first position. That left it up to seniors Lisa Zaar and Anna Campana, who in just their second match playing together all season, clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 rout of Romane Longueville and Kim-Michaela Zahraj on court three.
Like they did in the regular-season meeting match, Pepperdine went on to dominate LMU in singles. Save for an upset-minded Zahraj, who took #14 Broadus to a breaker before losing 7-6 (4), the Waves rolled through singles play with relative ease, surrendering just 25 games to the Lions.
Conway was the first to complete her first set at the sixth position, as she beat freshman Anastasia Bozova by winning the last four games of her first set in a 6-2 win. The WCC Freshman of the Year's second set was much easier: Conway took a 5-0 lead before Bozova held serve in the sixth game, then Conway finished off the match in the seventh game.
While Conway was closing in on match point, #80 Redelijk was making quick work of Fiona Arrese one court over at the fourth position. In a battle of the two seniors, Redelijk overcame an early deficit in the first set to win 6-2, then the Pepperdine senior flummoxed Arrese in the second set as Redelijk won 6-2, 6-0. All told, Redelijk won all six break points and dealt three aces in the straight-set win.
Up on all four remaining courts with a 3-0 lead, #12 Zaar and #79 Campana were in a position to clinch the match, yet Zaar ended the match with her straight-set win over Carlota Molina at the second position. After winning her first set easily 6-2, Zaar broke Molina right away in the second set and didn't look back, as she outlasted Molina on several long rallies in the final game to win 6-2, 6-1 and punch Pepperdine's ticket to Saturday's championship match.
First serve for tomorrow's championship match against #23 San Diego is scheduled for 2 p.m. The women's match will be the second half of a Pepperdine-San Diego doubleheader, as the men will square off at 10 a.m. Admission to the Aztec Tennis Center for both matches is free.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #42 Janice Tjen (PEPP) vs. Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik (LMU) 6-3, 2-3, unfinished
2. #12 Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. Carlota Molina (LMU), 6-2, 6-1
3. #14 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) vs. Kim-Michaela Zahraj (LMU), 7-6 (4), 3-1, unfinished
4. #80 Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) def. Fiona Arrese (LMU), 6-2, 6-0
5. #79 Anna Campana (PEPP) vs. Romane Longueville (LMU) 6-4, 5-0, unfinished
6. Jasmine Conway (PEPP) def. Anastasia Bozova (LMU), 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6,4,2*
Doubles
1. #2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. Isabella Tcherkes-Zade/Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik (LMU), 6-3
2. Nikki Redelijk/Vivian Yang (PEPP) vs. Fiona Arrese/Carlota Molina (LMU), 5-3 unfinished
3. Lisa Zaar/Anna Campana (PEPP) def. Romane Longueville/Kim-Michaela Zahraj (LMU), 6-3
Order of finish: 1,3
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