SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Playing with a quiet confidence across the lineup, the No. 25 Pepperdine men's tennis team took care of business by sweeping the No. 70 Santa Clara Broncos in the West Coast Conference Semifinals at the Aztec Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.

After winning the doubles point with two lopsided wins, the Waves (16-9, 5-2 WCC) took five first sets from the Broncos (15-9, 5-2 WCC) to reach tomorrow's championship match. In their first postseason matches, Lasse Poertner and David Fix won in straight sets before Linus Carlsson Halldin clinched the match with a straight-set win over Luca Bluett.

With the win, the Waves will square off with conference rival No. 7 San Diego in the championship match for the fourth consecutive year. Tomorrow's first serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Playing with its usual doubles lineup, the Waves took big leads on all three courts en route to winning the doubles point.

Pepperdine's all-freshman team of Poertner and Aleksa Pisaric won their 15th dual match win and gave the Waves an early advantage with a 6-1 win at the third position. The match was played on serve until the Waves broke the Broncos at deuce in the fourth game, then the freshmen consolidated the break at deuce in the fifth game. From that point forward, the match was smooth sailing for the freshmen, who served out their 6-1 win.

One court over, Pepperdine's veteran team of Carlsson Halldin and Maxi Homberg clinched the doubles point with their fourth consecutive win. The Waves went up a break before the Broncos broke back in the third game to put the match back on serve. Yet a break point win in the sixth game ended up being the difference. The match was played on serve from that point forward. Strong serving from Carlsson Halldin helped the Waves cap off their match with a love hold to win 6-3.

Just as they did in the regular season, the Waves swept the Broncos with three straight-set wins in singles play. Although the Broncos made a late push 90 minutes into the match, the Waves handled the pressure and won five first sets.

Wrapping up his first set before everyone else, Lasse Poertner blanked Lucas Maskow 6-0 while never facing a deciding point. Poertner's second set was slightly less lopsided: The match was played on serve until Poertner broke Maskow at deuce in the fourth game. However, Maskow broke back to put the match back on serve, then broke Poertner again at deuce in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead. Facing a challenge for the first time in the match, Poertner didn't waver. The German freshman returned the favor by breaking Maskow back at deuce, then consolidating the break for a 5-4 lead. In the final game, Poertner won the first three points before breaking Maskow for the 6-0, 6-4 victory.

Minutes later on court five, David Fix sped through his first set against Tiago Boschmans. In his first postseason match, Fix rattled off five consecutive games against the Santa Clara sophomore before Boschmans held at deuce in the sixth game. Fix capped off his 6-1 first-set win with a love hold, yet Boschmans raised his level in the second set.

Fix went up a break in the fourth game, then Boschmans broke Fix in the sixth game to put the match back on serve. The next four games required deuce points, but Fix won the one that truly mattered. The Pepperdine freshman broke Boschmans at deuce in the eleventh game, then served out his 6-1, 7-5 win.

With the Waves up on three of the four remaining matches, Pepperdine's senior captain Linus Carlsson Halldin answered the call. Competing at the second position against Luca Bluett, Carlsson Halldin won a close first set 6-4, then went up a break to start the second set. Carlsson Halldin maintained that lead for the rest of the frame, although not without holding serve in the sixth game by winning a key deuce point. In his final service game, Carlsson Halldin's serving gave him a 30-0 lead before the senior captain clinched his 6-4, 6-4 win with a backhand winner.

Tomorrow's top-25 matchup for the WCC Championship almost needs no introduction. Last year, the Toreros beat the Waves 4-1, exacting revenge on Pepperdine for sweeping them 4-0 in 2023. This will be the 23rd WCC title match between the two teams since the conference switched to the dual-match format in 1995. The Waves are 15-5 against the Toreros in WCC Championship matches in that span.

RESULTS

Singles
1. #23 Edward Winter (PEPP) vs. Alexander W Eriksson (SCU) 7-5, 4-1, unfinished
2. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. Luca Bluett (SCU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. Lukas Maskow (SCU) 6-0, 6-4
4. Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) vs. John Kim (SCU) 6-4, 6-6 (1-1), unfinished
5. David Fix (PEPP) def. Tiago Boschmans (SCU) 6-1, 7-5
6. Valentin Faure (SCU) vs. Hugh Winter (PEPP) 7-6 (2), 3-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 3,5,2*
 

Doubles
1. #64 Edward Winter/Hugh Winter (PEPP) vs. Luca Bluett/John Kim (SCU) 5-2, unfinished
2. Linus Carlsson Halldin/Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. Tiago Boschmans/Lukas Maskow (SCU) 6-3
3. Aleksa Pisaric/Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. Alexander W Eriksson/Valentin Faure (SCU) 6-1

Order of finish: 3,2*