MALIBU, Calif. — Making its return outdoors after playing at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championships, the #16 Pepperdine women's tennis team will travel to Rice and Texas A&M this weekend.
The Waves' road trip starts with a match in Houston, Texas against Rice on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT, then they'll wrap up the weekend with a showdown at defending NCAA champions #2 Texas A&M on Sunday. All live stream and live stat links can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
MATCH 8: #16 Pepperdine (2-5) at Rice (5-1) | Saturday, Feb. 15 | 9 a.m. PT | George R. Brown Tennis Center | Houston, Texas
MATCH 9: #16 Pepperdine (2-5) at #2 Texas A&M (8-1) | Sunday, Feb. 16 | 10 a.m. PT | Mitchell Tennis Center | Bryan-College Station, Texas
SCOUTING THE WAVES
All things considered, Pepperdine learned a lot about itself last week at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships last week.
Despite going 1-2 in Evanston, Ill., the Waves' two losses were to current top-10 teams in #7 North Carolina and #10 Tennessee — both of whom will likely make the Super Regional later this spring. The Waves wrapped up their stint indoors with a 4-1 win over hosting Northwestern, which served as a get-right match, of sorts, heading into this weekend's road trip.
Playing at #2 Texas A&M will give the young Pepperdine roster yet another tough test. Calling the Waves "battle tested" might be an understatement. So far, the Waves have played four top-25 teams on the road and just one home match. Of all the top-25 teams, only #9 LSU has more matches against top-25 opponents (five) while playing just one home match.
Nevertheless, one of the emerging storylines for this season is the play of freshman Anastasiia Grechkina, who has been a revelation at the second spot in the lineup.
The reigning West Coast Conference Singles Player of the Week is the lone Wave with a perfect 5-0 record in dual match play, and already has two ranked singles wins in her first full month of college tennis. With her powerful forehands, on-court composure and ability to battle back into matches, Grechkina has solidified herself as Pepperdine's number-two singles player behind five-time All-American #16 Savannah Broadus.
Pepperdine's roster is still young and will be challenged on another road trip this weekend. However, the lineup is beginning to take shape. Sophomore #80 Vivian Yang went 2-1 last weekend indoors and has made considerable progress since her breakout postseason run last spring. The lefty gives Pepperdine an interesting matchup in the middle of the lineup.
Freshman Alexia Harmon matches Yang's 4-2 record and was last seen emphatically clinching the Waves' win over Northwestern at the fifth position. With a solid serve and a willingness to grind out long points, Harmon has been a consistent contributor on the bottom half of the Waves lineup so far. Her four-match win streak is second only to Grechkina.
Another positive takeaway from Evanston was the improvements Pepperdine made in doubles, specifically with Grechkina and Harmon at the second position. The freshman duo made a splash in their debut match with a 6-1 upset over #26 Tatum Evans and Theadora Rabman of North Carolina, and then they picked up another ranked win over #64 Britany Lau and Mika Dagan Fruchtman of Northwestern. With Pepperdine's NCAA Tournament team #7 Broadus and Yang atop the lineup, Grechkina and Harmon provide the Waves with another formidable doubles team.
ACROSS THE NET
The Waves kick off the road trip with their first match against the Rice Owls since 2019. Very few notable ties exist between the two programs, which have only played each other six times prior to this weekend. Pepperdine leads the all-time series 5-1 and has a perfect 2-0 record against Rice in Houston.
Led by 13th-year head coach Elizabeth Schmidt, the Owls last made the NCAA Tournament in 2021, when they lost to Michigan in the first round. This year the Owls have a 5-1 record and are coming off a 4-0 sweep to in-city rival Houston, which should help Rice's postseason resume.
As for the team's other results, the Owls also beat Arizona — Pepperdine's lone ITA Kickoff Weekend opponent — 4-1, but they lost to unranked TCU 4-2 at home. The rest of Rice's wins have been sweeps against low-major opponents. Pepperdine will likely be the best team Rice faces all year.
The Owls have one nationally ranked doubles team in #85 Darya Schwartzman and Fernanda Martinez, who have a 12-4 record on the 2024-25 season and a 5-1 record atop the doubles lineup. In singles, the Owls have four players with undefeated records in dual match play: Top singles player Darya Schwartzman (5-0), Martinez (4-0) Nithesa Selvaraj (4-0) and Saara Orav (2-0). Elsewhere in the lineup, the Owls have sophomore Divna Ratkovic, who won the inaugural AAC Singles Championship in October. She has a 4-1 record at the second position.
However, the real test for this weekend is the defending national champions #2 Texas A&M Aggies. With a lineup led by #3 Mary Stoiana — a five-time All-American and reigning ITA National Player of the Year the Aggies are a force to be reckoned with and already look like a cut above the majority of college tennis teams — save for the #1 Georgia Bulldogs, who beat the Aggies 4-1 for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship title on Tuesday.
Losing just one player from last year's title-winning team, Texas A&M has one of the best rosters in college tennis this year. Aside from Stoiana, the Aggies boast current #12 singles player and recent All-American Nicole Khirin, #41 Lucciana Perez, #101 Mia Kupres and #125 Daria Smetannikov in the singles lineup, giving them five ranked players. The one unranked player in the singles ladder is blue-chip recruit Lexington Reed, who has a 14-5 record in her first year of college tennis. Good luck finding a weak spot in the lineup.
Texas A&M has one ranked doubles team in #42 Stoiana and Kupres, who have only played in one match this season. Currently, #1 Georgia is the only team to take the doubles point against the Aggies.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Waves return home to host the #18 California Golden Bears on Saturday, Feb. 22. First serve is scheduled for noon. All pertinent information can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
