MALIBU, Calif. — No. 19 Pepperdine women's tennis (3-1) claimed a convincing 4-1 victory over No. 2 Texas A&M (5-1) Friday afternoon from Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
The Waves secured the doubles point before winning on three of the four singles courts that finished out, in a match that spanned just over four hours on a sunny Malibu afternoon.
It marked the highest-ranked victory for the Waves since defeating No. 1 North Carolina in the 2021 NCAA Semifinals.
"This team is coming together," noted head coach
Tassilo Schmid following the win. "We showed up for each other today and took a step in the right direction. Every court competed, every point mattered, and we gave ourselves the best chance to win. We'll take a lot of positives from this one and get back to work on Monday."
After dropping the doubles bout on court three,
Živa Falkner and
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva claimed victory on court one, 6-4, in their first match as a pairing this season.
Coming down to court two,
Anastasiia Grechkina and
Chantal Sauvant went to a tiebreak to decide the doubles point. The duo fell behind 2-0, before winning seven of the next eight points to put the Waves ahead 1-0.
Grechkina and Sauvant improved to 4-0 on the season at No. 2 doubles.
The Aggies claimed the first singles match on two, evening the match at 1-1.
Zhiyenbayeva dropped the first set at flight three in singles, before winning the next two by marks of 6-1 and 6-2, putting Pepperdine back ahead 2-1.
Zhiyenbayeva improved to 4-0 on the campaign in singles with the win.
Duru Söke picked up a key victory on court six next for the Waves, winning the first set in a tiebreak (7-4), before a 6-4 win in the second set, putting Pepperdine in position to clinch with. 3-1 advantage.
Söke improved to 1-0 on the season as the match was her first singles dual match of the campaign.
With the remaining three matches all going three sets, it was
Chantal Sauvant finishing first and clinching the upset win for the Waves. After dropping set one 2-6, Sauvant extended the match with a tiebreak win in set two, coming back in the tiebreak to claim it 8-6, before earning a 6-3 win in the third to secure the 4-1 victory for Pepperdine.
On court one, Falkner went unfinished (7-5, 6-7, 4-4), while
Alexia Harmon was (6-3, 3-6, 5-5) on court five when the match finished.
The Waves have now earned two top-12 victories early in the season, after taking the home opener over the second-ranked Aggies.
Doubles
1.
Živa Falkner/
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) def. Mia Kupres/Lucciana Perez (TAMU): 6-4
2.
Chantal Sauvant/
Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) def. Violeta Martinez/Anna Perelman (TAMU): 7-6 (8-6)
3. Reed Lexington/Darla Smetannikov (TAMU) def.
Duru Söke/
Shihomi Leong (PEPP): 6-3
Order of finish: 3,1,2
Singles
1.
Živa Falkner (PEPP) ABN vs. No. 34 Mia Kupres (TAMU) 5-7, 6-7 (3-7), 4-4
2. Lucciana Perez (TAMU) def. No. 7
Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP): 7-6, 6-1
3.
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) def. Lexington Reed (TAMU): 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
4.
Chantal Sauvant (PEPP) def. Violeta Martinez (TAMU) 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
5.
Alexia Harmon (PEPP) ABN vs. Daria Smetannikov (TAMU) 6-3, 3-6, 5-5
6.
Duru Söke (PEPP) def. Anna Perelman (TAMU): 7-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 2,3,6,4
The Waves return Sunday, Feb. 15, hosting Arizona State at 11 a.m. from Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
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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