MALIBU, Calif. — Obstacles during the NCAA Tournament are inevitable, and the 6-seeded Pepperdine women's tennis team overcame losing the doubles point to beat #26 Arizona State 4-1 and reach the program's eighth-straight Super Regional.
Despite losing a close doubles point on a deuce point on the final court, the Waves (19-6, 6-0 West Coast Conference) bounced back with a strong showing in singles play. Five of the six Waves won their first sets and Pepperdine prevailed with straight-set victories from Vivian Yang, #12 Savannah Broadus and #39 Janice Tjen before #15 Lisa Zaar clinched the match with her 6-2, 6-2 win over Chelsea Fontenel on court two.
The win was the Waves' 18th consecutive postseason victory at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. As a reward, the Waves will host their crosstown rivals #11 USC — whom Pepperdine beat 4-0 at home earlier this season — in the Super Regional next Friday, May 10 at 1 p.m. PT. Further details about the match will be announced at a later date.
Although the nation's second-ranked doubles team of Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen dug themselves out of a 3-0 hole to beat #31 Chelsea Fontenel and Patricija Spaka 6-4, the Sun Devils broke the Waves on deuce point for a 7-5 win on court three to clinch the doubles point.
But any momentum Arizona State had from winning the doubles point quickly evaporated.
Riding high from her come-from-behind victory in doubles, #12 Broadus didn't need a comeback in her dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over Marianna Argyrokastriti on court three. Both players traded breaks to start the first set, but Broadus won a break point in the third game, put the match back on serve and didn't look back en route to winning the first set 6-1. As she has been wont to do, Broadus breezed through her second set and quickly went up a break before Argyrokastriti held in the third game. The match was played on serve until the seventh game when Broadus broke Argyrokastriti for a 4-2 lead, then the Pepperdine junior took care of business in the final two games to put Pepperdine on the board.
Moments after Broadus won her match, freshman Vivian Yang continued her win streak at the sixth position, as she beat Rachel Hanford convincingly 6-2, 6-2. Yang pulled away from Hanford in the sixth game by breaking the Sun Devil senior for a 4-2 lead, then Yang consolidated the break and broke Hanford for the 6-2, first-set win. The Pepperdine freshman proceeded to win the first four games of the second set before Hanford broke Yang on deuce point in the fifth game. But Yang's lead was never really in danger, and the freshman won her second NCAA Tournament match in as many days to give Pepperdine a 2-1 advantage.
From there, the top of the Pepperdine lineup took care of business. The first set of #39 Janice Tjen's match against #79 Giulia Morlet came down to a late break point win from Tjen, but the second set was a different story. Tjen rolled 6-0 in a brisk second set for her eighth-consecutive win, which put the Waves up 3-1. Moments later, #15 Lisa Zaar sent the Waves into the Super Regional with her 6-2, 6-2 win over Chelsea Fontenel.
Arizona State ends its season with a 15-10 record and a fifth-place Pac-12 Conference finish in the final season of the conference's existence.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #39 Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. #79 Giulia Morlet (ASU) 6-4, 6-0
2. #15 Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. Chelsea Fontenel (ASU) 6-2, 6-2
3. #12 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) def. Marianna Argyrokastriti (ASU) 6-1, 6-2
4. #86 Anna Campana (PEPP) vs. #104 Emilija Tverijonaite (ASU) 6-1, 4-5, unfinished
5. #80 Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) vs. Sara Svetac (ASU) 3-6, 6-0, unfinished
6. Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. Rachel Hanford (ASU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 3,6,1,2
Doubles
1. #2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. #31 Chelsea Fontenel/Patricija Spaka (ASU) 6-4
2. Giulia Morlet/Sara Svetac (ASU) def. Nikki Redelijk/Vivian Yang (PEPP) 6-1
3. Emilija Tverijonaite/Marianna Argyrokastriti (ASU) def. Anna Campana/Lisa Zaar (PEPP) 7-5
Order of finish: 2,1,3
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