SAN FRANCISCO — A ranked doubles win and two singles victories highlighted the Pepperdine women's tennis team's first day of action at the Battle in the Bay Classic, held at the California Tennis Club on Thursday.
Liam Oved and Duru Söke provided the highlight of doubles play with their upset win over #47 Tomi Main — a former Pacific Tiger — and Yu-Chin Tsai of TCU. Making their college tennis debuts, Oved and Söke took down the Horned Frogs duo 8-3 for the team's first victory over a ranked opponent this season. Their reward is a match against the nation's top doubles team: Oklahoma State's Ange Oby Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar.
Both of Pepperdine's singles victories were in three sets. Sophomore Vivian Yang pulled an early upset to start her season by beating 5-seed Jade Otway of TCU in three sets. Yang dropped the first set 6-3 but won the next two 6-2, 6-3 to punch her ticket into the next round. Yang will face USC's Imogen Haddad in the round of 16 tomorrow at noon.
Playing in her first collegiate singles match, Oved overcame losing the first set to beat TCU's Isabel Pascual 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. The true freshman from Israel won several deuce points in the final set to complete the comeback and set up a round of 16 match against #106 Sofia Rojas of Georgia — Oved's first ranked singles opponent.
Elsewhere in the singles draw, Taylor Goetz and Söke took on veteran opponents from Southern California and fell in their first-round matches. Goetz took on #15 Emma Charney of USC but lost in straight sets, while Söke took the first set off UCSB fifth-year Ali Benedetto before falling in three sets. Both players will compete in the consolidation draw tomorrow.
RESULTS
Doubles Round of 16
Liam Oved/Duru Söke (PEPP) def. #47 Tomi Main/Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU), 8-3
#12 Isabel Pascual/Jade Otway (TCU) def. Taylor Goetz/Vivian Yang (PEPP), 8-4
Singles Round of 32
Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. Jade Otway (TCU), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Liam Oved (PEPP) def. Isabel Pascual (TCU), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
#15 Emma Charney (USC) def. Taylor Goetz (PEPP), 6-4, 6-3
Ali Benedetto (UCSB) def. Duru Söke (PEPP), 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
FRIDAY'S MATCHES
Doubles Quarterfinals
Liam Oved/Duru Söke (PEPP) vs. #1 Ange Oby Kajuru/Anastasiya Komar (OSU), 10 a.m.
Singles Round of 16
Vivian Yang (PEPP) vs. Imogen Haddad (USC), noon
Liam Oved (PEPP) vs. #106 Sofia Rojas (UGA), 12:30 p.m.
Consolation Doubles Match
Taylor Goetz/Vivian Yang (PEPP) vs. Sally Pethybridge/Alaia Rubio Perez (PORT), 10 a.m.
Consolation Singles Matches
Taylor Goetz (PEPP) vs. Semra Aksu (VT), 6 p.m.
Duru Söke (PEPP) vs. TBD, 6:30 p.m.
