TUCSON, Ariz. — No. 22 Pepperdine men's tennis (2-1) was defeated by a score of 4-2 against LSU (5-0) in the championship round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Tucson region.

The Waves had defeated No. 20 Florida State Saturday while the Tigers knocked off host No. 16 Arizona to set up Sunday's final.

Pepperdine dropped the doubles point and eventually went down 3-0, battling back with singles wins from Maxi Homberg and David Fix while the remaining two matches went to a third set, with the Tigers eventually securing the victory.

"I'm hurting for the boys," said Director of Tennis Adam Schaechterle following the match. "They dug in down 0-3 and came close to flipping it all the way. Congrats to LSU and their coaching staff, it was a great college match today."

The Tigers began the match with a strong doubles performance, claiming wins on court one and two. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida and Fix remained unbeaten on the season, with their match going unfinished at 5-5.

The Waves fell behind further to begin singles play, falling in straight sets on three and four to put the scoreline at 3-0 in favor of LSU.

In the remaining matches, Almeida, Fix and Homberg each won their first set, while Edward Winter fell 4-6 in his.

The second set saw three matches go to tiebreaks, while Winter asserted himself with a 6-0 win to force a third set at flight one.

Homberg took care of business in his tiebreak (7-3), to close out the match with a 6-3, 7-6 win on court two.

Minutes later at six, Fix saved three set points to come back and win his tiebreak (8-6), claiming the match (6-3, 7-6), making it a 3-2 scoreline.

On court five, Almeida fell in his second set tiebreak by a 7-4 mark, before dropping the third set, 6-3.

Winter's match went unfinished at one, while he was ahead 5-4 on serve and up 30-love in the game.

The Tigers advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships with the victory.

Fix improved to 3-0 on the season for the Waves with his singles victory.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. Andrej Loncarevic and Sasa Markovic (LSU) def. Maxi Homberg and Edward Winter (PEPP): 6-3
2. Erik Arutiunian and Matias Ponce De Leon (LSU) def. No 53 Aleksa Pisaric and Lasse Poertner (PEPP): 7-5
3. No. 51 David Fix and Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (PEPP) ABN vs. Rudy Ceccon and Enzo Kohlmann (LSU): 5-5
Order of finish: 1,2

Singles
1. No. 88 Edward Winter (PEPP) ABN vs. Olaf Pieczkowski (LSU): 4-6, 6-0, 5-4
2. Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. Erik Arutiunian (LSU): 6-3 7-6 (7-3)
3. Enzo Kohlmann (LSU) def. Lasse Poertner (PEPP): 6-2 6-4
4. Andrej Loncarevic (LSU) def. No. 61 Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP): 6-1 6-0
5. Matias Ponce De Leon (LSU) def. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (PEPP): 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
6. David Fix (PEPP) def. Sasa Markovic (LSU): 6-3 7-6 (8-6)
Order of finish: 4,3,2,6,5

The Waves will prepare to host No. 16 Arizona Friday, with match time set for 3 p.m. from Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.

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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