MALIBU, Calif. — In battle between two of the West Coast Conference's unbeaten teams, the No. 20 Pepperdine men's tennis team hosts No. 63 Pacific on Friday at 2 p.m.
Friday will be a rematch of last year's WCC semifinals, which saw the Waves sweep the Tigers with a dominant showing in doubles and three close straight-set matches. Admission to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center is free to the public. The match will be live-streamed for free via PlaySight. All pertinent information can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
MATCH 19: #20 Pepperdine (12-6, 2-0 WCC) vs. #63 Pacific (11-6, 3-0 WCC) | Friday, April 4 | 2 p.m. PT | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center | Malibu, Calif.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Facing off against a second-straight WCC opponent, the No. 20 Pepperdine Waves have shown no signs of slowing down in conference play.
Pepperdine is still in the hunt for a top-16 seed and home-court advantage for the first two rounds in the NCAA Tournament. The Waves just need to win out. While a win against Pacific would be the team's seventh over a nationally ranked opponent, Pepperdine's home match against No. 7 San Diego on April 18 looms large for the team's hosting hopes. But, as LMU showed by pushing San Diego to the brink in a 4-3 loss last week, the WCC won't fold easily. The Waves must not fall asleep at the wheel.
Thankfully for the Waves, they look sharp. In the team's return to WCC play last Sunday, the Waves took care of business by sweeping the No. 69 Santa Clara Broncos. Playing with a different singles lineup for the first time in over a month, the Waves got the job done with straight-set wins from Chris Papa, Edward Winter and Lasse Poertner after winning the doubles point with two lopsided wins.
The underclassman-heavy Pepperdine Waves have several men playing the best tennis of their collegiate careers. The elder Winter, who checked in at a career-high 21st in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings, is playing All-American level tennis. He has a 12-4 record with a win over NCAA No. 1 Michael Zheng, five ranked wins and is riding a seven-match win streak heading into Friday's match. That streak is second only to Lasse Poertner's eight-match win streak — all of which have been in straight sets. Those two men have been reliable for the Waves over the past month.
While the Waves have winning records at five of the six positions, head coach Adam Schaechterle's squad has had different players step up throughout the season. Senior captain Linus Carlsson Halldin clinched the Waves' wins over No. 9 Columbia, then-No. 24 Arizona State and UCLA this year, while freshman Aleksa Pisaric isn't afraid of the moment either. Both men play at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, making Pepperdine a deep and dangerous team.
Pepperdine has two nationally ranked singles players with No. 21 Edward Winter and No. 75 Maxi Homberg, plus one nationally ranked doubles team: No. 79 Edward and Hugh Winter, who broke into the ITA doubles rankings for the first time this week. The Waves have winning records at all three doubles positions so far.
Additionally, Pepperdine leads the all-time series over Pacific 15-2 and have won the last four matches against the Tigers. The Waves haven't lost at home to a WCC team in two years.
ACROSS THE NET
Establishing themselves as the third-best team in the WCC, the Pacific Tigers have experienced a quick turnaround over the last two seasons under fifth-year head coach Robin Goodman. After finishing ninth in the conference in 2023, the Tigers finished third in the league last year and have gotten off to a 3-0 start in conference play.
Pacific's five-match win streak couldn't come at a better time. Friday's match against Pepperdine kicks off the biggest weekend of the year for the Tigers, who will travel to No. 7 San Diego on Sunday. Ranked 63rd in the latest ITA polls, the Tigers are in need of quality wins to make the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2004.
The Tigers return four players from last year's singles lineup, which went 0-2 against the Waves. There will be no love lost between the Tigers and Waves from last year. In a span of five days, Pepperdine won a share of the WCC regular-season title with a 4-3 win at Pacific before sweeping the Tigers in the WCC semifinals. That semifinal sweep was closer than the score indicated: Although Pepperdine won three straight-set singles matches, five matches needed a tiebreak set before George Davis clinched the match on court five.
Junior Tiago Silva leads the charge for the Tigers in singles, having made history as just the second Pacific player to make the NCAA Singles Championship this past fall. He has an 8-5 record at the first position and a 20-10 record, however, he is absent in the ITA singles rankings. Silva has won his last four matches, which is second only to his teammate Christof Schaertlin Coffey's five-match win streak.
Another Pacific player of note is freshman Nico Rating — the seldom-used freshman who played the hero on Sunday with his three-set victory at the fifth position to clinch the Tigers' 4-3 win over LMU. With injuries impacting the Pacific roster, the team will have to rely on Rating playing a bigger role this week.
Pacific's lone representation in the national individual rankings is its team of Ran Amar and Schaertlin Coffey, who are 36th in the latest ITA doubles polls. Winners of its last five matches, the Tiger duo has a 7-1 record in dual match play atop the doubles ladder. Doubles play has been a strong suit of the Tigers: Pacific hasn't lost a doubles point since Feb. 22 and has won the doubles point in nine consecutive matches.
WHAT'S NEXT
Pepperdine hosts UC Santa Barbara next Wednesday, April 9 at 2 p.m. in the non-conference finale. All pertinent information can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
