MALIBU, Calif. — In a battle between two of the West Coast Conference's three ranked teams, the #43 Pepperdine men's tennis team took care of business at home by sweeping the #53 Santa Clara Broncos on Sunday.
Aside from a doubles point that came down to the last court, the match between the Waves (9-10, 3-1 WCC) and the Broncos (14-5, 1-3 WCC) was all Pepperdine. All three of Pepperdine's singles wins were in straight sets: Pietro Fellin and #38 Edward Winter picked up wins at the top of the lineup, while true freshman Zach Stephens clinched for the second consecutive match.
In doubles, Pepperdine took an early lead with Stephens and Chris Papa breezing through their match at the third position while the other two courts were locked into tight matches. The Pepperdine duo went up a break early and held that lead for the rest of the match as they extended their lead to 4-1 after breaking Luca Lemaitre and Tiago Boschmans in the fifth game. Although the Broncos broke back in the next game, the Waves countered with a break of their own on deuce point as Papa's overhead at the net made the score 5-2. Papa and Stephens would hold serve in the next game to win 6-2.
Santa Clara won on court one, putting the pressure on Pepperdine's Fellin and Winter at the second position to win a late break point against Sebastian Buxman and Lukas Maskow on court two. While neither team budged for the first ten games, Fellin and Winter broke through in the sixth game, when the Waves took a 40-15 lead, then broke the Broncos two points later. Needing to hold serve to clinch the doubles point, the Waves came through and finished off the match when Fellin and Winter's overheads at the net capped off the 7-5 win.
With the doubles point in hand, Pepperdine wasted no time in singles as five of the six Waves won their first sets. After Robert Shelton blanked Lukas Maskow for a 6-0 first-set win, Pietro Fellin won his first set against Guillaume Dalmasso 6-3 at the second position before speeding through the second set. Fellin won the first three games of the second set before Dalmasso held serve in the fourth game, then Fellin held and broke Dalmasso to take a 5-1 lead. Despite falling behind 30-0 in the seventh game, Fellin won the next three points and capped off his 6-3, 6-1 win with an ace.
Over at the first position, #38 Winter and #81 Christian Lerby of Santa Clara went back-and-forth in their first set. Lerby went up a break and extended his lead in the third game before Winter got on the board, but Winter held on deuce point for 3-2 and hung with Lerby until the tenth game. Aided by a double fault from Lerby and prevailing in several long rallies, Winter broke Lerby for a 5-5 tie, then held on deuce point in the next game to put the pressure on Lerby to force a tiebreaker.
Winter broke Lerby after winning a long rally for the 7-5 first-set victory, then didn't look back in the second set. The Pepperdine freshman went up a break early in the second and took a three-game lead before Lerby held serve in the fourth game. That would be Lerby's only win, as Winter rattled off the next three games to cap off his 7-5, 6-1 victory.
Moments later, Stephens brought his second set closer to the finish line after fending off Santa Clara's Arjun Honnappa in the second set. Like his teammates, Stephens also won his first set in a 6-3 decision before taking a 3-1 lead in the second set. However, Honnappa chipped away at Stephens' lead to put the match back on serve. Stephens held on deuce point in the eighth game, then broke Honnappa for a 5-4 lead. In the penultimate point of the match, Stephens and Honnappa were locked in a long rally before Stephens used a slew of backhands on the ad side — like he has been wont to do — before setting up a winner at the net. Stephens then finished the match on the next point, capping off his 6-3, 6-4 win.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #38 Edward Winter (PEPP) def. #81 Christian Lerby (SCU) 7-5, 6-1
2. Pietro Fellin (PEPP) def. Guillaume Dalmasso (SCU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) vs. Luca Lemaitre (SCU) 2-6, 5-5, unfinished
4. George Davis (PEPP) vs. Sebastian Buxman (SCU) 6-4, 3-5, unfinished
5. Robert Shelton (PEPP) vs. Lukas Maskow (SCU) 6-0, 3-6, 3-2, unfinished
6. Zach Stephens (PEPP) def. Arjun Honnappa (SCU) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 2,1,6*
Doubles
1. Christian Lerby/Guillaume Dalmasso (SCU) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin/George Davis (PEPP) 6-3
2. Pietro Fellin/Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Sebastian Buxman/Lukas Maskow (SCU) 7-5
3. Chris Papa/Zach Stephens (PEPP) def. Luca Lemaitre/Tiago Boschmans (SCU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3,1,2
UP NEXT: Pepperdine hosts San Francisco and Portland for a doubleheader on April 14. The match against USF begins at 10 a.m., then the match against Portland will follow at 2 p.m.
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
