MALIBU, Calif. — Kicking off an important homestand this weekend, the Pepperdine men's tennis team cruised to a 4-0 sweep over PCH Cup rival LMU for the team's first West Coast Conference win on Saturday afternoon.

The Waves (3-2, 1-0 WCC) blitzed the Lions (1-4, 0-1 WCC) with two lopsided doubles wins, then used straight-set wins from Chris Papa, Edward Winter and Aleksa Pisaric to cap off the sweep. Pepperdine has won its last six WCC dual matches at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.

Doubles play was all Pepperdine. 

Playing on court three, David Fix and Chris Papa gave Pepperdine an early lead in doubles with a 6-1 win over Jacopo Denitto and Darius Tamaddon. In the first game, Waves avoided early trouble by holding on deuce point when a backhand slice from Papa split both Lions. After breaking the Lions in the next game, Fix and Papa won the next four points to quickly go up 3-0. Aside from the Lions holding serve in the fourth game, the Waves overpowered LMU and won the match 6-1.

Over on court two, freshmen Lasse Poertner and Pisaric clinched the doubles point with another 6-1 win. The freshmen broke Youssef Sadek and Nikola Kuraica on deciding point in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead and didn't look back. With Poertner back to serve on deciding point, the Waves held serve for the match when the Lions returned a Poertner backhand long.

Singles play saw Chris Papa provide another point for the Waves with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Jacopo Denitto for Papa's first win of the spring season. Despite going down a break early in the first set, the Pepperdine graduate student battled back to put the match back on serve before breaking Denitto on deciding point for a 3-2 lead. Papa consolidated the break and then broke Denitto again before serving out the set. 

Then in the second set, Papa broke Denitto to go up 2-1 before holding serve in the fourth game. He maintained his break lead over Denitto from that point forward, then won the match with an inside-out forehand on the ad-side that Denitto couldn't answer.

Competing in his first home match of the spring season, Edward Winter cruised to a 6-1 first-set win over Sebastian Nothhaft before Nothhaft raised his level in the second set. With the score tied at 4-4 and with Nothhaft serving, Winter broke the LMU fifth-year senior by advancing to the service line and catching Nothhaft off-guard with an overhead winner. The Pepperdine sophomore served out the match and won his first home singles match 6-1, 6-4 when Nothhaft netted a forehand return.

One court over, freshman Aleksa Pisaric cruised to a straight-set victory over Youssef Sadek on court three, clinching the first match of his career at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. After battling through two deciding points, Pisaric finally broke through in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead. From there, the match was played on serve and Pisaric held for a 6-4 first-set win.

Then in the second, Pisaric broke Sadek in the third game and consolidated the break to extend his lead. The Serbian freshman held serve on a pivotal deciding point in the sixth game, broke Sadek one last time for a 5-2 lead and served out the match for his 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Tomorrow Pepperdine will host #9 Texas A&M for a match at noon. Free coffee and doughnuts will be served to all fans in attendance. All schedule updates can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.


RESULTS

Singles 
1. Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Sebastian Nothhaft (LMU) 6-1, 6-4
2. Lasse Poertner (PEPP) vs. Arthur Pantino (LMU) 6-7 (5-7), 3-0, unfinished
3. Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) def. Youssef Sadek (LMU) 6-4, 6-2
4. David Fix (PEPP) vs. Nikola Kuraica (LMU) 3-6, 5-4, unfinished
5. Hugh Winter (PEPP) vs. Alex Padro (LMU) 2-6, 5-3, unfinished
6. Chris Papa (PEPP) def. Jacopo Denitto (LMU) 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 6,1,3*


Doubles
1. Edward Winter/Hugh Winter (PEPP) vs. Arthur Pantino/Sebastian Nothhaft (LMU) 4-2, unfinished
2. Aleksa Pisaric/Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. Youssef Sadek/Nikola Kuraica (LMU) 6-1
3. David Fix/Chris Papa (PEPP) def. Jacopo Denitto/Darius Tamaddon (LMU) 6-1

Order of finish: 3,2*