MALIBU, Calif. — No. 13 Pepperdine women's tennis (2-0) will head to Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend for ITA Kickoff Weekend, with Clemson joining the Waves and host Tennessee.

The Waves will take on Clemson Friday at 1 p.m. ET, with the winner set to face No. 16 Tennessee Saturday at Noon ET.

The team to win Saturday's match will qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships held from Feb. 6-10 in Chicago. The original quartet for the weekend included No. 22 Washington, who were unable to make the trip due to travel concerns with impending weather. 

Streaming for the matches this weekend can be found here, with live scoring available here.

Match Notes

• The Waves enter ranked No. 13 in the ITA Team Rankings, up eight spots from the preseason ranking of No. 21.
• Pepperdine swept the first West Coast Conference weekly awards cycle.
• Živa Falkner received WCC Singles Player of the Week following her victory over Texas' No. 2 Carmen Herea last week.
• Sonja Zhiyenbayeva received WCC Freshman of the Week following her first collegiate action.
• Anastasiia Grechkina and Chantal Sauvant were named WCC Doubles Team of the Week.
• Grechkina and Sauvant went 2-0 at No. 2 doubles in their first two matches as a pair.
• Zhiyenbayeva is 2-0 in singles at flight three for the Waves.
• Alexia Harmon has tabbed a 2-0 singles mark so far this season.
• Harmon and Zhiyenbayeva went 1-1 at No. 3 doubles on the week.
• Sauvant and Shihomi Leong both earned their first singles win at Texas, each moving to 1-0 on the season.
• Pepperdine has gone 8-2 in singles matches this season.
• The Waves have reached nine straight ITA National Team Indoor Championships dating back to 2017.
• Pepperdine defeated Arizona last year in their lone Kickoff Weekend affair to reach the Indoor Championships.
• The Waves have won 18 straight ITA Kickoff Weekend Matches, beginning with a consolation win in 2016.

Series History

• The Waves hold a 1-4 all-time record against Clemson.
• The lone win came in the most recent meeting in 2023, a 4-0 victory in Malibu. 
• The first four matches all came within 1981-2005.
• The Waves hold a 2-2 all-time mark against Tennessee.
• The two sides matched up twice this past season at the National Indoor Championships and NCAA Tournament, with the Lady Volunteers claiming each matchup.

Scouting The Opponent

• The Tigers enter with a 3-0 dual match record this season.
• Clemson has defeated Mercer, Charlotte and West Carolina without dropping a match so far.
• Ria Bhakta (No. 71) and Amelie Smejkalova (No. 122) enter as ranked singles players for the Tigers.
• The Tigers also boast a pair of ranked doubles duos in Gaia Parravicini/Smejkalova (No. 35) and Romana Cisovska/Candela Yecora (No. 71).
• Tennessee enters ranked No. 16 in the ITA team rankings.
• The Lady Vols opened the season with a 6-1 victory at home against Wake Forest.
• The 2025 squad for Tennessee reached the NCAA Quarterfinals before falling to Texas A&M.
• Leyla Britez Risso ranks No. 26 in the ITA singles rankings to pace Tennessee, with Elim Yan coming in at No. 82.
• Three doubles pairing for the Lady Vols rank within the top-36.

The Waves return home next to host No. 2 Texas A&M from Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center next Friday (Jan. 30) at noon.

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.
 
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