TUCSON, Ariz. — No. 22 Pepperdine men's tennis (2-0) earned a 4-1 victory over No. 20 Florida State (5-2) Saturday morning in the opening round of ITA Kickoff Weekend in Tucson.

The Waves will take on LSU tomorrow at 1 p.m. MT for a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships held from Feb. 13-16 in Waco, Texas. The Tigers took down host No. 16 Arizona on the other side of the bracket today.

"I'm proud of the boys for how they dug in," said Director of Tennis Adam Schaechterle. "We're excited for a battle with LSU tomorrow."

It was a rainy morning in Tucson, which pushed back the match time from an originally slated 9:00 a.m. MT to 10:30 a.m. MT. The Waves got the match started with David Fix and Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida improving to 2-0 on the season with a 6-2 win at flight three.

After dropping the doubles bout on court one, Lasse Poertner and Aleksa Pisaric brought home the doubles point for the Waves, topping No. 82 Mohammad Alkotop and Azariah Rusher by a 6-3 scoreline..

Dropping the first singles match at flight two, the Waves secured three straight victories to earn the 4-1 victory, with two matches going unfinished in the third set.

Poertner earned a tiebreak win in set one by a 7-5 mark, before taking the second set 6-3 to make the team score 2-1 in favor of Pepperdine.

Edward Winter then came in with a straight-set win at flight one in his first dual match appearance of the season. Winter battled from down a break in the first set to win 7-5, before a 6-3 win in the second set.

Closing out the match was David Fix at No. 6, who fell by a 6-3 scoreline in the opening set. Fix kicked it into gear right after, winning the final two sets 6-3, 6-2, to improve to 2-0 on the young season. 

Both Almeida and Pisaric dropped their first set before coming back to force a third set, with each match being abandoned following the Pepperdine team victory.

The Waves will look to clinch a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships tomorrow for the first time since the 2013 season.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 43 Luis Felipe Miguel and Erik Schiessl (FSU) def. Maxi Homberg and Edward Winter (PEPP): 6-3
2. No. 53 Aleksa Pisaric and Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. No. 82 Mohammad Alkotop and Azariah Rusher (FSU): 6-3
3. No. 51 David Fix and Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (PEPP) def. Gabriele Brancatelli and Jan Sebesta (FSU): 6-2
Order of finish: 3,1,2

Singles
1. No. 88 Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Corey Craig (FSU): 7-5, 6-3
2. No. 69 Luis Felipe Miguel (FSU) def. Maxi Homberg (PEPP) 6-2, 6-1
3. Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. No. 50 Erik Schiessl (FSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
4. No. 61 Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) ABN vs. No. 43 Azariah Rusher (FSU): 4-6, 7-5, 1-3
5. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (PEPP) ABN vs. Mohammad Alkotop (FSU) ABN 6-7 (7-2), 6-2, 4-5 
6. David Fix (PEPP) def. Gabriele Brancatelli (FSU): 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 2,3,1,6

Pepperdine's matchup with LSU tomorrow is slated for 1 p.m. MT, with the match time subject to change due to weather conditions.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN'S TENNIS
Pepperdine men's tennis has a longstanding tradition of success, highlighted by an NCAA Championship in 2006 which came 54 years after its first NAIA Championship in 1952. Robbie Weiss recorded the program's first NCAA singles championship in 1988 after the program saw doubles national championships in 1984 and 1985. 44-time WCC Champions, Pepperdine has reached 40 NCAA Tournaments and six NCAA Regionals in its history with 53 total All-Americans.

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