MALIBU, Calif. — Kicking off West Coast Conference play, the No. 19 Pepperdine women's tennis team beat Portland 6-1 at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
In interim head coach Tassilo Schmid's first women's tennis conference win, the Waves (7-8, 1-0 WCC) took the doubles point over the Pilots (5-8, 0-3 WCC) and won four matches in straight sets. Vivian Yang clinched the match on court two, then Anastasiia Grechkina capped off the victory with a three-set win on court one. Pepperdine has now won 81 consecutive dual matches against WCC opponents.
Playing in its third match in three days, the Portland Pilots dug deep and used a lopsided upset on court one to take an early lead in doubles. However, the bottom of the Waves doubles lineup countered.
On court two, Duru Söke and Sebastianna Scilipoti battled through several deuce points against Aleksandra Dimitrijevic and Nadine Arbaizar Martinez. Although the Pilots broke the Waves in the eighth game, the Waves broke back and served out the 6-4 win. Seconds later, Liam Oved and Vivian Yang clinched the doubles point with their 6-2 win on court three.
Pepperdine blazed through singles play, taking five of the six first sets in one-sided results. The Waves extended their lead to 3-0 thanks to emphatic straight-set wins from Duru Söke and Liam Oved. On court five, Söke got off the court first with her 6-1, 6-1 win over Nadine Arbaizar Martinez in which Söke was never broken. Picking up her first win in WCC play, Oved beat Maria Galatescu 6-1, 6-0.
Although the Pilots got on the board with a straight-set win at the fourth position, Pepperdine slammed the door on Portland moments later. Competing at the second position for the first time this season, sophomore Vivian Yang clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Alaia Rubio Perez.
The rest of the matches were played out. Freshman Alexia Harmon extended Pepperdine's lead to 5-1 with her 6-0, 6-3 win over Aleksandra Dimitrijevic at the third position.
All eyes turned to court one, where the match between No. 68 Anastasiia Grechkina and Portland senior Sally Pethybridge went to a 10-point tiebreaker. Despite falling behind 4-2 in the breaker, Grechkina rallied back to tie the score at six all. Pethybridge reclaimed the lead once more at 7-6, yet Grechkina won four consecutive points to close out her 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) win.
Next Sunday, the Waves will travel to PCH Cup rival LMU. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. All schedule updates can be found on the women's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #68 Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) def. Sally Pethybridge (POR) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
2. Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. Alaia Rubio Perez (POR) 6-2, 6-0
3. Alexia Harmon (PEPP) def. Aleksandra Dimitrijevic (POR) 6-0, 6-3
4. Isabella Marquart (POR) def. Sebastianna Scilipoti (PEPP) 6-1, 6-0
5. Duru Söke (PEPP) def. Nadine Arbaizar Martinez (POR) 6-1, 6-1
6. Liam Oved (PEPP) def. Maria Galatescu (POR) 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6,5,4,2*,3,1
Doubles
1. Sally Pethybridge/Alaia Rubio Perez (POR) def. #57 Anastasiia Grechkina/Alexia Harmon (PEPP) 6-2
2. Duru Söke/Sebastianna Scilipoti (PEPP) def. Aleksandra Dimitrijevic/Nadine Arbaizar Martinez (POR) 6-4
3. Liam Oved/Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. Maria Galatescu/Isabella Marquart (POR) 6-2
Order of finish: 1,2,3*
