EVANSTON, Ill. — The #15 Pepperdine women's tennis team made things interesting by taking the doubles point against the #8 North Carolina Tar Heels, yet the Waves couldn't hang on in a 4-1 loss in the opening round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championship on Friday.
The Waves (1-4) set the tone early with an emphatic doubles point, but the Tar Heels (7-1) won four straight-set matches. Pepperdine, which has faced North Carolina in four ITA National Indoor Championships, will now face #13 Tennessee in the consolation draw tomorrow at a time that has yet to be determined.
At first, the Waves looked poised for an upset. Anastasiia Grechkina and Alexia Harmon rattled off four consecutive games at the third doubles position before #26 UNC's Tatum Evans and Theadora Rabman got on the board. The Waves then broke the Tar Heels for the match on a double fault, giving Pepperdine an early 1-0 advantage in doubles.
Although the Tar Heels countered with a win at the second position, the doubles point came down to the heroics of #7 Savannah Broadus and Vivian Yang, who faced off against #29 Alanis Hamilton and Reese Brantmeier. No strangers to thrilling doubles matches, the Pepperdine duo recovered from being broken in the fifth game, broke the Tar Heels in the eighth game and eventually forced a tiebreak.
But playing in a tiebreaker was a familiar situation for the Waves. Broadus and Yang rattled off five straight points before Brantmeier and Hamlton got on the board. With a comfortable 6-2 lead and with Yang back to serve, the Waves clinched the doubles point off a Broadus overhead to finish off the 7-6 (2) win.
Despite hanging with the Tar Heels and playing with confidence, Pepperdine faltered in the beginning of singles play. UNC posted quick, straight-set victories at the first, third and fourth positions to go up 3-1.
Pepperdine was walking a tightrope for the final hour of the match. Harmon grinded out a 7-5 second-set victory to push her match to a third set, Grechkina was battling in a second-set tiebreaker after winning her first set 6-3 and Duru Soke rallied from a 5-1 deficit to tie the score at five games all in the second set over on court six.
Unfortunately for Pepperdine, the long second-sets came back to hinder its comeback chances. North Carolina's Thea Rabman pushed her match against Grechkina to a third set, giving Claire Hill enough time to clinch the match with a 7-6 (1), 7-5 win at the sixth position.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #21 Reese Brantmeier (UNC) def. #16 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) 6-3, 6-1
2. Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) vs. #10 Theadora Rabman (UNC), 6-3, 6-7 (6), 1-0, unfinished
3. Alanis Hamilton (UNC) def. #80 Vivian Yang (PEPP), 6-4, 6-0
4. #20 Carson Tanguilig (UNC) def. Liam Oved (PEPP) 6-3, 6-0
5. Alexia Harmon (PEPP) vs. #31 Tatum Evans (UNC), 3-6, 7-5, 0-1, unfinished
6. Claire Hill (UNC) def. #108 Duru Soke (PEPP) 7-6 (1), 7-5
Order of finish: 1,4,3,6*
Doubles
1. #7 Savannah Broadus/Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. #29 Alanis Hamilton/Reese Brantmeier (UNC), 7-6 (2)
2. #5 Susanna Maltby/Carson Tanguilig (UNC) def. Taylor Goetz/Duru Soke (PEPP) 6-4
3. Anastasiia Grechkina/Alexia Harmon (PEPP) def. #26 Tatum Evans/Theadora Rabman (UNC) 6-1
Order of finish: 3,2,1*
