MALIBU, Calif. — No. 15 Pepperdine women's tennis (3-1) returns from a two-week hiatus to host Arizona State (4-2) Sunday at 11 a.m. from Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.

Fans unable to attend in person can follow the live stream and scoring here.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Waves earned a key 4-1 victory over No. 2 Texas A&M at home on Jan. 30.
• Pepperdine secured the doubles point through Živa Falkner/Sonja Zhiyenbayeva at the No. 1 position and Chantal Sauvant/Anastasiia Grechkina clinching on court two in a tiebreak.
• Zhiyenbayeva, Duru Söke and Sauvant then earned singles victories to post the 4-1 upset win for the Waves.
• It marked the highest-ranked victory for the Waves since defeating No. 1 North Carolina in the 2021 NCAA Semifinals. 

MATCH NOTES

• Sonja Zhiyenbayeva has earned three WCC Freshman of the Week honors this season, receiving the award in all three weeks in which Pepperdine has competed.
• Zhiyenbayeva has tabbed a 4-0 record at No. 3 singles for the Waves through her first four collegiate matches.
• Zhiyenbayeva and Živa Falkner received WCC Doubles Team of the Week after earning a win at the No. 1 doubles position against No. 2 Texas A&M.
• Falkner has won back-to-back singles matches at the No. 1 position for the Waves, seeing her match abandoned against the Aggies last time out.
• Falkner broke back into the ITA singles rankings at No. 49 this past week.
• Duru Söke earned a key win at flight six in her first singles action of the campaign against Texas A&M.
• Chantal Sauvant has recorded a 2-1 singles record this season for the Waves, clinching the match against Texas A&M in three sets.
• Sauvant and Grechkina have posted a 4-0 record in doubles this season through four matches.
• Grechkina was tabbed at No. 11 in the most recent ITA singles rankings, beginning the season with a 2-2 record.
• Alexia Harmon has registered a 2-1 mark in singles this season on court five.
• Shihomi Leong boasts a 1-1 singles record so far in her first collegiate action.
• The Waves have gone 14-6 in singles matches this season.
• Pepperdine is 2-0 against ranked opponents this season.
• The Waves have won 103 of their past 109 home matches dating back to the 2016 dual match season. 
• Pepperdine moved up to No. 15 in the most recent ITA team rankings.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Waves boast a 14-9 record in the all-time series against Arizona State.
• This includes a 6-2 mark in Malibu.
• Pepperdine has won five of the past six meetings, dating back to the 2014 season.
• The Sun Devils earned a 4-2 victory in Tempe this past February.
• The Waves earned a 4-1 win in the most recent meeting in Malibu, which came in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

• Arizona State enters play with a 4-2 record, most recently defeating WCC-foe San Diego by a 6-1 mark this past weekend.
• The Sun Devils also matched up with Texas A&M this season, falling 0-4 at ITA Kickoff Weekend.
• Arizona State is coming off a 2025 campaign in which it reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Emilija Tverijonaite enters play ranked No. 16 in the country in the ITA singles rankings

The Waves remain home to host No. 19 UCLA next, taking on the Bruins at 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20 in Malibu.

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.
 
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine women's tennis news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineWTEN.