KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 13 Pepperdine women's tennis suffered a narrow 4-3 defeat against Clemson (4-0) Friday morning in the University of Tennessee's region at ITA Kickoff Weekend.
The Waves claimed victory on courts 1-3 in singles, but dropped the doubles point and the remaining singles bouts to fall by a 4-3 margin.
Pepperdine will not play a second match on the weekend, as the fourth team set to be in the region, Washington, did not make the trip due to weather concerns.
"It's always tough to lose a 4-3 but credit goes to Clemson, they did a great job in doubles and turning two three-setters in singles their way," said head coach
Tassilo Schmid. "We have to take this as a great learning experience and get better as a team. Nothing on our schedule will be easy so I am excited to get back to work with this young group and bounce back at home versus Texas A&M."
Pepperdine picked up the first win in doubles play through
Anastasiia Grechkina and
Chantal Sauvant at flight two, 6-3. The duo improved to 3-0 on the season with the win.
The Tigers picked up a 6-4 win at flight three, before claiming the doubles point with a tiebreak win on court one.
Živa Falkner kept her momentum going at No. 1 singles for the Waves, cruising to a 6-1, 6-4 victory to even the match at one.
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva kept her unblemished record this season in place, picking up a straight set victory at flight three. It marked the first ranked victory of her career, taking down No. 71 Ria Bhakta (7-6, 6-3).
The Tigers earned a win at flight four to even the score, as the match would come down to courts two, four and five singles.
Anastasiia Grechkina came back from a set down at flight two for the Waves, to give the Waves a brief 3-2 advantage. After dropping the first set 3-6, Grechkina dropped just three games over the next two sets, claiming wins of 6-2 and 6-1.
The Tigers were able to see out a two-set on court four shortly after, before claiming the match with a three-set win on court five.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Jade Groen/Rinon Okuwaki (CU) def.
Živa Falkner/Duru Söke (PEPP) 7-6 (7-5)
2.
Anastasiia Grechkina/
Chantal Sauvant (PEPP) def. Gaia Parravicini/Romana Cisovska (CU) 6-3
3. Talia Neilson-Gatenb/Artemis Aslanisvili (CU) def.
Alexia Harmon/
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) 6-4
Order of finish: 2,3,1
Singles
1.
Živa Falkner (PEPP) def. Jade Groen (CU) 6-1, 6-4
2.
Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) def. Romana Cisovska (CU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
3.
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) def. Ria Bhakta (CU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-1
4. Rinon Okuwaki (CU) def.
Chantal Sauvant (PEPP) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
5. Talia Neilson-Gatenb (CU) def.
Alexia Harmon (PEPP) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
6. Artemis Aslanisvili (CU) def.
Shihomi Leong (PEPP) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 1,3,4,2,6,5
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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