SAN BRUNO, Calif. — No. 6 women's tennis picked up a pair of weekly accolades, announced today by the West Coast Conference (WCC).

Sonja Zhiyenbayeva claimed her fifth WCC Freshman of the Week honor, while being named to the WCC Doubles Team of the Week alongside Živa Falkner.

Zhiyenbayeva continued her standout debut collegiate season for Pepperdine, going 3-0 in singles on the week while being 3-0 at the No. 1 doubles position. She helped lead the Waves to a 5-0 week, winning five matches in six days on the road.

Beginning her week at No. 68 Washington State, Zhiyenbayeva took down Martina Puvill in two sets (6-0, 6-3) to help the Waves to a 4-3 win in the conference opener. Returning at No. 24 Stanford, she earned a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Carolina Driscoll, contributing to Pepperdine's 4-1 win over the Cardinal. In the final match of the Week at No. 10 Cal, Zhiyenbayeva continued her streak of not dropping a set, earning her second ranked victory of the season over No. 57 Mao Mushika (6-2, 6-2). Her win was critical for the 4-2 Pepperdine victory over the Bears. Zhiyenbayeva is now 9-1 on the dual match season in singles and currently sits at No. 122 in the ITA rankings.

On the doubles court, Falkner and Zhiyenbayeva were a perfect 3-0 on the week. They began the week with a 6-0 win at Washington State, helping lead the Waves to the doubles point. Their success continued at Gonzaga, with a 6-3 win at the No. 1 position. The duo then defeated No. 72 Monika Ekstrand/Carolina Driscoll by a 6-3 scoreline at Stanford, improving to 3-0 on the season against ranked doubles pairs, and 6-1 altogether on the campaign. The weekly award win marked the second of the season for the tandem, who are currently ranked No 26 in the ITA doubles rankings.

West Coast Conference Weekly Awards (Mar. 10)
Singles Player: Maxine Murphy, Washington State
Doubles Team: Sonja Zhiyenbayeva and Živa Falkner, Pepperdine
Freshman: Sonja Zhiyenbayeva, Pepperdine

The Waves return home tomorrow for a matchup against No. 2 Ohio State, set for 2 p.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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