MALIBU, Calif. - No. 24 Pepperdine men's tennis (5-3) fell to No. 15 UCLA (4-2) by a final score of 4-2 in another top-25 matchup at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Waves came up just short in the doubles point. Aleksa Pisaric and Lasse Poertner defeated the Bruins' Aadarsh Tripathi and Spencer Johnson 6-3 at the No. 1 position, but Edward Winter and Hugh Winter were denied at the No. 2 position, 6-2.
 
The decisive match in doubles was Pepperdine's Maxi Homberg and Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida versus UCLA's Bengt Reinhard and Rudy Quan on court three. The match went to a tiebreak, and UCLA prevailed by a 9-7 scoreline.
 
"Congrats to UCLA, they were better than us today in the big moments", said Director of Tennis, Adam Schaechterle, after the contest. "We learned a lot about who we are as a team during this five-match homestand. We have a heck of a ballclub. I expect four of the five teams we battled with to be top-15 at the end of the year. The biggest lesson I hope we take away is to not be afraid of consequences in the biggest moments. When we trust our training and focus on how we produce, the outcome takes care of itself."
 
Moving to singles, David Fix fell in two sets (1-6, 2-6) to Cassius Chinland on court 6, bringing the score to 2-0 in favor of the Bruins.
 
Almeida also took care of business for the Waves, reigning victorious over Tripathi in a pair of sets (7-5, 6-4) on court five to get the Waves on the board.
 
The Waves kept gaining momentum with Pisaric on court four, who took down Andy Nguyen in two sets (6-1, 7-5), evening the match at 2-2.
 
Edward Winter then fell to Spencer Johnson on court one in three sets (6-1, 2-6, 4-6), putting the Bruins back ahead 3-2.
 
Homberg dropped the first set of his match (0-6) and rallied to take set two (6-3), eventually falling at the very end (4-6) on court two, which clinched the match for the Bruins.
 
Lasse Poertner, battling van Loben Sels at flight three, was down a set after falling 3-6, but rallied to win set two (6-3) and was leading 4-2 in the third set before his match was abandoned.
 
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Aleksa Pisaric/Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. Aadarsh Tripathi /Spencer Johnson (UCLA): 6-3
2. Edward Winter/Hugh Winter (PEPP) vs. Gianluca Ballotta/Emon Van Loben Sels (UCLA): 2-6
3. Bengt Reinhard/Rudy Quan (UCLA) def. Maxi Homberg/Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (PEPP): 7-6
Order of finish: 1,2,3
 
Singles
1. Spencer Johnson (UCLA) def. Edward Winter (PEPP): 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Rudy Quan (UCLA) def. Maxi Homberg (PEPP): 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
3. No. 100 Lasse Poertner (PEPP) ABN vs. Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA): 3-6, 6-3, 4-2
4. No. 124 Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) def. Andy Nguyen (UCLA): 6-1, 7-5
5. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (PEPP) def. Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA): 7-5, 6-4
6. Cassius Chinlund (UCLA) def. David Fix (PEPP): 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 6,5,4,1,2

The Waves won't return for a home match until April 5 (Portland), beginning a stretch of nine consecutive road matches beginning Friday, February 13th at No. 21 USC at 1:30 p.m. 

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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