BERKELEY, Calif. — Completing its two-game road trip in the Bay Area, the #3 Pepperdine women's tennis team fell short in a marathon, 4-3 loss to the #10 California Golden Bears at the Hellman Tennis Complex on Saturday.
Despite winning the doubles point and taking a 3-2 lead, the Waves (11-5, 2-0 West Coast Conference) came up empty in two, three-set matches that the Golden Bears (14-4, 6-1 Pac-12 Conference) won to cap off the four-hour, ten-minute match. With the result, all five of Pepperdine's losses have been against top-10 teams.
The match got off to a promising start for Pepperdine, as Jasmine Conway and Lisa Zaar quickly gave the Waves an advantage with their 6-2 win at the third doubles position. Meanwhile, on court one, #2 Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen overcame losing the first game to take a 3-1 lead on #22 Mao Mushika and Hannah Viller Moeller. Although the Golden Bears duo played their way back into the match and eventually broke the Waves for a 5-4 lead, Broadus and Tjen broke back, then rattled off all four points with Tjen behind the service line to take a 6-5 lead. But Cal would hold serve and force a tiebreak.
Needing to go the distance against Mushika and Viller Moeller for the second time this season, Broadus and Tjen bolted out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak. The nation's second-ranked doubles team faced little resistance in the breaker, taking a 5-1 lead off a Broadus overhead at the changeover. Three points later, Tjen clinched the doubles point for Pepperdine with a few tough returns at the net to cap off the duo's 7-6 (2) win.
But the Golden Bears flipped the script in singles play. Four California players won first sets and the hosts took a 2-1 lead with straight-set wins at courts one and six. However, Pepperdine took back the lead thanks to #95 Nikki Redelijk and #52 Tjen.
Redelijk's march against Berta Passola Folch was on serve until the Pepperdine senior broke Passola Folch in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead. From there, Redelijk consolidated the break en route to a 6-3 first set win before dominating the second set. Redelijk went up a break, then consolidated the break, giving her a lead she wouldn't relinquish. Leading 5-1 in the seventh game, Redelijk broke Passola Folch on a long rally to cap off her 6-3, 6-1 win.
Moments later, Tjen put Pepperdine back in front at the second position. Tjen sped through her first set against #74 Jessica Alsola by winning the first four games en route to a 6-1 win. Despite taking a 3-1 lead in the second set, Tjen needed to fend off Alsola, who won the next two games to put the match back on serve and eventually broke Tjen for a 4-3 lead. But Tjen broke Alsola on deuce point in the next game, then consolidated the break. The match was played on serve until Tjen broke Alsola for the match in a 6-1, 7-5 straight-set win.
Needing to win one of the remaining two matches to come out on top, Pepperdine improved its chances as #90 Anna Campana came back after trailing 5-2 in the second set against Mao Mushika to eventually force a tiebreak. Campana persevered throughout the breaker, battling back from 3-1 and 6-4 deficits to win the second set 7-6 (6) and force a third set.
Although Campana and #8 Broadus' matches were tied 4-4 in the third set, the Golden Bears won on both courts to complete the 4-3 upset win.
RESULTS
Doubles
1) #2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. #22 Mao Mushika/Hannah Viller Moeller (CAL) 7-6 (2)
2) Nikki Redelijk/Vivian Yang (PEPP) vs. Jessica Alsola/Katja Wiersholm (CAL), 5-5 unfinished
3) Jasmine Conway/Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. Lan Mi/Berta Passola Folch (CAL), 6-2
Order of finish: 3,1
Singles
1) #44 Hannah Viller Moeller (CAL) def. #10 Lisa Zaar (PEPP) 6-0, 6-1
2) #52 Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. #74 Jessica Alsola (CAL) 6-1, 7-5
3) #65 Katja Wiersholm (CAL) def. #8 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
4) Mao Mushika (CAL) def. #90 Anna Campana (PEPP) 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-4
5) #95 Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) def. Berta Passola Folch (CAL) 6-3, 6-1
6) Lan Mi (CAL) def. Vivian Yang (PEPP) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,6,5,2,3,4*
UP NEXT: Pepperdine hosts #14 UCLA in the non-conference finale on Thursday, April 11 at 1 p.m.
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