SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO Calif. — In the wake of picking up a top-40 singles win last weekend, Pepperdine men's tennis junior Maxi Homberg was named the West Coast Conference Singles Player of the Week on Tuesday.
Playing atop the Pepperdine lineup for the first time in his career, #36 Homberg upset #31 Noah Zamora of UC Irvine 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 last Saturday. Homberg's win was not only his first of the season, but also the highest-ranked singles win of his career thus far. This award is the first of the season for Pepperdine and the second of Homberg's career.
Predictably, the match between two top-40 players on Pepperdine's opening day was close. Homberg and Zamora traded 6-3 victories to force a third set, which featured five deciding points in the final set alone.
Both players held serve in the third set until Homberg turned the tide in the eighth game. The All-American forced break point, which Zamora fended off by winning a long rally to force the fifth deciding point of the set. This time, however, Homberg broke through. As Zamora advanced to the net, Homberg broke Zamora with a forehand return that Zamora sent long.
With Homberg leading 5-3, Zamora made one more push by winning the first two points in Homberg's next service game. Yet Homberg kept composure and won the next three points to seal the 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win.
Homberg and the Waves will be back in action tomorrow at UT Arlington before heading to Starkville, Miss. for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend on Saturday. All updates can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
