MALIBU, Calif. — After competing in the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Tournament last week, the #28 Pepperdine men's tennis team returns to dual match play by hosting #39 Vanderbilt and #46 Middle Tennessee State.
The Waves will play the Commodores on Sunday at 11 a.m. before playing the Blue Raiders on Tuesday, March 13 at 2 p.m. Admission to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center is free to the public. All pertinent live stream and live stat links can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
MATCH 15: #28 Pepperdine (7-5) vs. #39 Vanderbilt (8-6) | Sunday, March 9 | 11 a.m. PT | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center | Malibu, Calif.
MATCH 16: #28 Pepperdine (7-5) vs. #46 Middle Tennessee State (9-8) | Tuesday, March 11 | 2 p.m. PT | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center | Malibu, Calif.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Returning to dual match play after nearly two weeks away, the #28 Pepperdine Waves will take on two NCAA Tournament hopefuls to bolster their non-conference resume.
While Pepperdine has been ranked as high as 23rd in the Intercollegiate Tennis Rankings, the Waves' recent drop can be attributed to what the rest of the top-25 teams accomplished recently. Despite the break, Pepperdine has five wins over ranked teams and six against 2024 NCAA Tournament squads. This week's opponents will be no exception: Both Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee made the NCAA Tournament last year.
Like all Adam Schaechterle-coached teams, the Waves feature a competitive doubles point, top-end talent in the singles lineup and a deep roster.
The top of the lineup features #69 Edward Winter and #47 Maxi Homberg, giving the Waves multiple NCAA Singles Championship qualifiers on the roster for the first time since 2013. In last week's 4-1 win over Rice, Winter and Homberg were responsible for two of the Waves' singles wins, which was just the third time this season the duo has picked up wins in the same dual match. If Pepperdine can count on both players to win consistently, the Waves could be a top-16 team.
So far, captains Winter and Linus Carlsson Halldin lead the team with six singles wins this spring. Winner of his last two singles matches, Lasse Poertner comes into this weekend with the longest active win streak of the Waves while playing at the fifth position.
One could make a convincing argument that Pepperdine could have one of the most underrated doubles lineups in the nation.
Despite having just one nationally ranked team in #72 Carlsson Halldin and Homberg, the Waves have won the doubles point seven times this year. Part of this is due to the efforts of Poertner and Aleksa Pisaric at the third position: The duo most recently made a run to the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship finals, where they fell in three sets to UCLA's veteran team of Alexander Hoogmartens and Giacomo Revelli. Additionally, the freshmen duo has won seven of their last eight matches in dual match competition.
Pepperdine leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt 2-1, which includes a 4-3 win over the Commodores in Nashville last year. In that match, Homberg clinched the top-30 win for the Waves with a three-set win over Jeremie Casabon at the fifth position. The Waves and Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will square off for the first time on Tuesday.
ACROSS THE NET
Competing in a loaded Southeastern Conference, the Vanderbilt Commodores are trying to make another postseason appearance after sneaking into the postseason with an at-large berth a season ago. The Commodores are looking for a breakthrough season under second-year head coach Scott Brown, who led his alma mater to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019 a year ago.
Vanderbilt's 8-6 record is a bit misleading. All six of its losses are against nationally ranked teams, and three have been to #4 Texas, #11 Duke and #21 Alabama. Competing in the ultra-competitive SEC will give the Commodores plenty of opportunities for quality wins without taking many bad losses, but Sunday gives the Commodores a realistic chance at improving their resume.
Checking in at No. 28 in the latest ITA rankings, the Commodores' doubles team of Nathan Cox and Michael Ross is Vanderbilt's only representation in the national rankings. The duo has a 5-2 record in dual match play but is looking to snap a two-match losing skid. The second and fifth positions are the strongest parts in the singles lineup thanks to Danil Panarin and Henry Ruger, respectively. Ruger leads the team with eight dual match singles wins.
Making their first ever trip to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders are looking to defend their Conference USA title this season.
Longtime head coach Jimmy Borendame's squad comes to Malibu after losing a pair of road matches to then-No. 20 Princeton and #11 Harvard. However, MTSU was on a six-match win streak against the likes of NCAA Tournament hopefuls Oklahoma State, Indiana and Arkansas. Like the Commodores, the Blue Raiders' record of 9-8 is deceptive: All of MTSU's losses are against either Power-4 teams or Ivy League powerhouses.
Although MTSU boasts NCAA Doubles Qualifiers #40 Ondrej Horak and Karim El-Amin, the Blue Raiders have struggled to put together the doubles point against postseason-caliber opponents. MTSU has won the doubles point in six of its 17 matches so far.
However, the middle of the Blue Raiders' lineup has picked up the slack this year. Although MTSU has a winning record at the second through sixth positions, the middle of the lineup is where the team excels. Freshman Kasper Szymkowiak and junior Shu Matsuoka lead the team with 11 and 10 wins, respectively — and while Szymkowiak has gradually moved up from fifth to first in the lineup, Matsuoka has been consistent at the fifth position. MTSU's depth is uniquely equipped to challenge Pepperdine's freshmen at the fourth through sixth positions; if the Blue Raiders want to win, the path will start there.
WHAT'S NEXT
Pepperdine heads to Indian Wells, Calif. to compete in the UTR Sports Collegiate Championships at the BNP. The Waves' first-round opponent is #14 Baylor on Friday, March 14. All schedule updates can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
