MALIBU, Calif. — No. 21 Pepperdine women's tennis opens the 2026 spring dual match campaign this weekend with a pair of power-four matchups in the state of Texas.
The Waves kick-off the new season Friday at 10 a.m. CT against Illinois, a neutral site contest in Waco, Texas, on the campus of Baylor. Returning on Sunday, Pepperdine will have a road test in Austin against No. 12 Texas, with match time set for 11 a.m. CT.
Friday, January 16 (Waco, Texas)
No. 21 Pepperdine vs. Illinois
10 a.m. CT / 8 a.m. PT
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Live Scoring
Sunday, January 18 (Austin, Texas)
No. 21 Pepperdine at No. 12 Texas
11 a.m. CT / 9 a.m. PT
Watch |
Live Scoring
MATCH NOTES
- Pepperdine enters the spring season ranked No. 21 in the country.
- The Waves are the highest ranked non-power four program in the country.
- Pepperdine boasts one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the country, taking on seven programs that advanced to a Super Regional in 2025.
- The Waves were selected to finish first in the Preseason West Coast Conference Poll.
- No. 7 Anastasiia Grechkina and Alexia Harmon were each named to the All-WCC Preseason Team.
- The duo is currently ranked No. 78 in the ITA doubles rankings.
- Grechkina's No. 7 ranking marked a career-high for the sophomore.
- Grechkina earned a top-ten victory at the NCAA Singles Championships in November.
- Grechkina's berth to NCAAs came via winning the ITA Southwest Regional Singles title.
- Grechkina tabbed a 17-3 singles record in the fall to surge into the top-ten nationally.
- Harmon posted a 19-5 dual match singles record in her freshman season in 2025 while being named WCC Co-Freshman of the Year.
- Duru Söke enters her sophomore season after registering an 11-5 dual-match singles record in 2025.
- Liam Oved returns after posting a 6-7 dual match singles record in 2025, finishing the season winning four of her final five matches.
- The Waves welcome four newcomers to the roster, each beginning their first collegiate season, featuring Živa Falkner, Shihomi Leong, Chantal Sauvant and Sonja Zhiyenbayeva.
SERIES HISTORY
- Pepperdine is 2-0 all-time against Illinois.
- The lone two meetings came in 1984 and 1994 in Malibu.
- Both matches saw Pepperdine secure a 4-0 victory.
- The Waves boast a 13-16 all-time record against Texas.
- This includes a 3-6 mark in matches played in Austin.
- The Longhorns collected a pair of 4-3 wins in 2021 and 2023 in the most recent meetings.
- The Waves boasted a six-match winning streak prior, spanning from 2011-20.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
- Illinois is coming off a 2025 season which saw it reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament, defeating No. 30 Arizona before falling to No. 7 Virginia.
- The Fighting Illini have reached three consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
- Sophomore Ariel Madatali was selected to the 2026 Big Ten Players to Watch List after achieving an 18-10 singles record in 2025.
- The Fighting Illini's doubles pairing of Alice Xu and Tess Bucher enter the season ranked No. 60 in the ITA rankings.
- Texas enters the season ranked No. 12 in the ITA Preseason Team Rankings.
- The Longhorns reached an NCAA Super Regional this past season, falling 4-3 to No. 3 Michigan in the Round of 16.
- Texas posted a 17-0 record at home in 2025 and are 46-1 in home matches across the past three seasons.
- Sophomore Carmen Herea enters as the No. 2 ranked singles player in the country, having reached the quarterfinals at the NCAA Singles Championship in November.
Fans and alumni in the Austin area are encouraged to attend the team's social and clay court clinic on Saturday in Austin. With check-in at 1:30 p.m., the clinic will span from 2-3:30 p.m. as all ages and levels are welcome while light refreshments and prizes will be provided. Reach out to tucker.fortson@pepperdine.edu for more details and to register.
Pepperdine will head to Knoxville, Tennessee next for ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Waves will take on Washington on Saturday and either Clemson or Tennessee on Sunday. The team to go 2-0 on the weekend will clinch a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships held from Feb. 6-10 in Chicago.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN'S TENNIS
Pepperdine women's tennis has been a consistent powerhouse in the collegiate scene, reaching 40 NCAA Tournaments since 1982 including 28 straight appearances. Since 2018, the program has seen three national runner-ups between both singles and doubles while reaching an NCAA Regional as a team eight times in the past nine tournaments. The success at the conference level has been paramount with 33 WCC Championships including an active streak of 11 consecutive conference titles. With its 24 total All-Americans, the program has also consistently sent players to the pro circuit following their time in Malibu.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine women's tennis news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineWTEN.
