CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — No. 20 Pepperdine men's tennis (6-5) picked up a 5-2 victory at No. 40 Harvard (9-6) Sunday afternoon from the Murr Center.

The Waves earned the doubles point before claiming four of the six singles matches over the Crimson.

"Gritty road win without our top player," said Director of Tennis Adam Schaechterle. "Ed not only plays the No. 1 spot, he's also had the best record on the team this spring. We needed every other player to step up. Aleksa and Lasse are making the jump from contributors to leaders. Gus is learning and maturing. Hugh was flying around in doubles and injected huge energy. And then Photos, what a performance off the bench in his first dual this spring. He competed with Pepperdine toughness to clinch the match."

Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida and Hugh Winter paired up for the first time this season in doubles, claiming a 6-3 win to begin the doubles bouts on court three. After falling on court two, Lasse Poertner and Aleksa Pisaric prevailed at the No. 1 position, 7-5, to give the Waves a 1-0 advantage in the match. 

Harvard took a 2-1 lead to begin singles play, with No. 57 Rohan Murali earning a two-set win over Maxi Homberg on court one and Masato Perera defeating David Fix on four.

The Waves would have their way on the remaining courts, beginning with Almeida logging a 7-5, 6-3 win on five to even the match at 2-2. Almeida improved to 5-3 on the season with the win.

Pisaric was next to earn a two-set win at the No. 3 position, winning set one by a 6-3 mark before claiming the second in a tiebreak, 7-4.

Photos Photiades clinched the match for the Waves on six, winning a pivotal third set by a 6-4 scoreline (6-4, 2-6, 6-4). The match was Photiades' first of the spring dual match campaign.

Finishing out the remaining match on two, Poertner improved his winning streak to three straight, picking up a comeback win in three sets (3-6, 6-3, 6-3).

RESULTS
Singles
1. No. 57 Rohan Murali (HARV) def. Maxi Homberg (PEPP): 6-1, 6-4
2. No. 101 Lasse Poertner (PEPP) def. Peter Privara (HARV): 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. No. 111 Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) def. Nathan Blokhin (HARV): 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
4. Masato Perera (HARV) def. David Fix (PEPP): 6-4, 6-2
5. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (PEPP) def. Mitchell Lee (HARV): 7-5, 6-3
6. No. 123 Photos Photiades (PEPP) def. Marc Ktiri (HARV): 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 1,4,5,3,6,2

Doubles
1. No. 75 Lasse Poertner/Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) def. Peter Privara/Nathan Blokhin (HARV): 7-5
2. Kolos Kincses/Rohan Murali (HARV) def. Maxi Homberg/David Fix (PEPP): 6-4
3. Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida/Hugh Winter (PEPP) def. Masato Perera/James Macdonald (HARV): 6-3 
Order of finish: 3,2,1

The Waves will return at No. 26 Yale Wednesday, with match time set for noon PT in New Haven, Conn.

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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