SAN BRUNO, Calif. — No. 2 Pepperdine women's tennis has swept the weekly West Coast Conference (WCC) awards for the fourth time this season, announced today by the conference.
Živa Falkner was named WCC Singles Player of the Week,
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva was tabbed WCC Freshman of the Week, and the tandem of
Shihomi Leong and
Duru Söke received WCC Doubles Team of the Week.
The quartet of honorees helped the Waves earn a pair of convincing top-15 victories this past week at home. The Waves began the week with a 4-0 triumph over No. 2 Ohio State Wednesday, before topping No. 15 Cal 4-1 this past Sunday.
Falkner earns her second Singles Player of the Week recognition after defeating the second-highest ranked opponent of her career. Falkner took down No. 11 Berta Passola Folch of Cal in straight sets at the No. 1 position, 6-3, 6-4, which put the Waves ahead 3-1 in the match over the Bears. Earlier in the week against No. 4 Teah Chavez of Ohio State, Falkner won the first set before the match was abandoned while in the second. Falkner now sits at 4-5 on the season in singles.
Zhiyenbayeva earns her sixth Freshman of the Week honor after recording her highest-ranked singles win of the season to go along with a ranked doubles win. She defeated No. 3 Luciana Perry of Ohio State in two sets, helping the Waves secure their upset win over the Buckeyes. Alongside Falkner in doubles, they also defeated No. 17 Teah Chavez/Hephzibah Oluwadare in doubles to help Pepperdine win the doubles point. In her match against Cal, Zhiyenbayeva had won the first set against No. 57 Mao Mushika before being abandoned in the second. The freshman is now 10-1 in singles on the season.
The duo of Söke and Leong earn their second Doubles Team of the Week honor after a pair of wins that each clinched the doubles point for the Waves this past week. They began with a 6-3 victory over Ohio State on court three which put the Waves ahead 1-0 over the Buckeyes. Returning against Cal, they won a pivotal tiebreak 7-5 which gave the Waves the first point of the match. Söke and Leong now sit at 6-2 on the season as a doubles pairing.
Pepperdine came in at No. 2 in the ITA team rankings released this morning, with three of the aforementioned Waves in the singles rankings featuring Falkner (No. 23), Zhiyenbayeva (No. 36) and Söke (No. 107).
The Waves return Thursday, hosting No. 14 NC State at 2 p.m. from Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
West Coast Conference Weekly Awards (March 17, 2026)
Singles Player: Živa Falkner, Pepperdine, Tr.
Freshman: Sonja Zhiyenbayeva, Pepperdine, Fr.
Doubles Team: Shihomi Leong/
Duru Söke, Pepperdine, Fr./So.
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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