MALIBU, Calif. — Making its return to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center after nearly a month away, the #25 Pepperdine women's tennis team beat California 5-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Alexia Harmon came through in the clutch again to clinch for the Waves (4-6). Despite falling behind in her third-set tiebreaker, Harmon saved three match points and came back to beat #106 Berta Passola Folch 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6). Pepperdine also won the doubles point and saw Anastasiia Grechkina and Duru Soke win in straight sets to set up Harmon's clinching moment. Then on court one, #16 Savannah Broadus capped off the win with her three-set win over #65 Mao Mushika.
Known to compete in close matches against each other, the Waves and Golden Bears (1-4) played things close in doubles.
While #8 Broadus and Vivian Yang won in a lopsided 6-2 win on court one, the other two matches were both decided by late break points. Cal knotted up the score with a win at the second position, turning the attention to Soke and Sebastianna Scilipoti battling on court three. The Waves broke Greta Greco Lucchina and Tiziana-Marie Schomburg in the ninth game, bringing Soke behind the service line for the final game. With the match on her racquet, the Waves quickly went up 30-15 before the Golden Bears won a long rally to tie the score.
Thankfully for Pepperdine, that was Cal's final push. The Waves clinched the doubles point on a Scilipoti poach on the ad side, giving Soke and Scilipoti a 6-4 win — their first of the season.
Pepperdine didn't relent in singles play, as the team won four first sets. On court two, #52 Grechkina was the first Wave to get through her first set with a 6-2 win over Lan Mi. But the second set was all Grechkina, who held serve on deciding point and then broke Mi for a 2-0 lead. From there, Grechkina didn't look back. The freshman shutout Mi in the second set for a 6-2, 6-0 win — her third over a ranked opponent so far.
Although Cal got on the board with a straight-set win on court three, the Waves responded with a win of their own on court six.
After being down a break early to Naomi Xu, freshman Duru Soke climbed back in her first set and rattled off five consecutive games to steal the first set 6-3. Soke broke Xu on deuce point in the fifth game, then consolidated the break with a love hold to put the match back on serve. Soke faced little resistance from that point forward: She won eight straight points and eventually broke Xu for a 6-3 first-set win.
Despite trading breaks to begin the second set, Soke turned the tide of the match by breaking Xu on deuce point for a 3-1 lead. She maintained her break lead for the remainder of the match and eventually broke Xu for the 6-3, 6-2 win.
Cal put another point on the board to make the score 3-2 Pepperdine, and the two remaining matches went to third sets. Harmon ended up crossing the finish line first by trading 6-1 sets with #106 Berta Passola Folch to push their match to a third. The freshman had a chance to serve out the match, yet Passola Folch broke Harmon in the twelfth game and forced a tiebreak to determine the match.
Harmon won the first point of the tiebreak but Passola Folch bolted out to a 4-2 lead. The Cal junior held Harmon at arm's length and eventually set up the first match point leading 6-3, but Harmon stayed alive with a backhand winner on the ad side. Harmon saved another match point by winning a long rally at 6-5, then was gifted a double-fault that tied the score at six.
At the changeover, Harmon won another long point to take a decisive lead before she clinched the match when Passola Folch's cross-court forehand went wide. The 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6) win was Harmon's seventh-straight victory and her second time clinching this season.
Broadus' match was played out on court one. Playing against a familiar foe in #65 Mao Mushika, the Pepperdine senior shook off a second-set setback to beat Mushika 6-2 in the third set. The win was Broadus' second over a ranked opponent in dual match play.
The Waves make the short trip across town to face #23 UCLA next Wednesday, Feb. 26. First serve is at 1 p.m.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #16 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) def. #65 Mao Mushika (CAL) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
2. #52 Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) def. #70 Lan Mi (CAL) 6-2, 6-0
3. Jessica Alsola (CAL) def. #101 Vivian Yang (PEPP) 6-3, 6-0
4. Greta Greco Lucchina (CAL) def. Sebastianna Scilipoti (PEPP) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Alexia Harmon (PEPP) def. #106 Berta Passola Folch (CAL) 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6)
6. Duru Soke (PEPP) def. Naomi Xu (CAL) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 2,3,6,4,5*,1
Doubles
1. #8 Savannah Broadus/Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. Mao Mushika/Berta Passola Folch (CAL) 6-2
2. Jessica Alsola/Naomi Xu (CAL) def. #39 Anastasiia Grechkina/Alexia Harmon (PEPP) 6-4
3. Duru Soke/Sebastianna Scilipoti (PEPP) def. Greta Greco Lucchina/Tiziana-Marie Schomburg (CAL) 6-4
Order of finish: 1,2,3*
