KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 27 Pepperdine women's tennis team's season ended with a 4-0 sweep at the hands of 10-seed Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, held in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Vols (19-7) took the doubles point then proceeded to win five first sets in singles play to finish the Waves' (15-12) season. Although the match started outdoors, rain moved the match indoors midway through the first set of singles play. This was the first postseason trip for Interim Head Coach Tassilo Schmid and five of the six players on the young roster, which had no upperclassmen in the lineup.
After dropping the doubles point, Pepperdine's lone first set came courtesy of freshman Sebastianna Scilipoti at the fourth position. However, freshman No. 56 Anastasiia Grechkina kept the Waves in the fight by pushing her match against No. 41 Catherine Aulia to a third set.
The score held at 1-0 for over an hour of indoor action, then the Lady Vols quickly went up 3-0 with straight-set wins at the first and sixth positions. On court three, Tennessee's No. 66 Leyla Britez Risso went down a break, but came back to put the second set back on serve. Pepperdine freshman Alexia Harmon went back to serve trailing 5-4 and saved three match points, yet Britez Risso broke Harmon at deuce for her 6-2, 6-4 win to clinch the match.
Three of Pepperdine's last four NCAA Tournament runs have come to an end indoors. Saturday was also the second-straight year the Waves' season ended at the hands of a Southeastern Conference school.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #7 Elza Tomase (TENN) def. Vivian Yang (PEPP) 6-1, 6-4
2. #41 Catherine Aulia (TENN) vs. #56 Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) 6-1, 2-6, 1-4, unfinished
3. #66 Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) def. Alexia Harmon (PEPP) 6-2, 6-4
4. Vanesa Suarez (TENN) vs. Sebastianna Scilipoti (PEPP) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0, unfinished
5. Francesca Mattioli (TENN) vs. Duru Söke PEPP) 7-6 (7-4), 1-1, unfinished
6. Saray Yli-Piipari (TENN) def. Liam Oved (PEPP) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 6,1,3*
Doubles
1. #30 Catherine Aulia/Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) def. Liam Oved/Sebastianna Scilipoti (PEPP) 6-0
2. Elza Tomase/Saray Yli-Piipari (TENN) vs. Alexia Harmon/Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) 5-4, unfinished
3. Maeve Thornton/Vanesa Suarez (TENN) def. Duru Söke/Vivian Yang (PEPP) 6-3
Order of finish: 1,3*
