MALIBU, Calif. — No. 7 Pepperdine women's tennis (13-4, 4-0 WCC) will head to No. 39 San Diego (9-8, 3-0 WCC) for its final road match of the regular season, set for Friday at 1:30 p.m.
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The Waves are coming off a 6-1 win over Portland and 7-0 victory against Cal Poly over the last two weeks. Pepperdine is now 4-0 in West Coast Conference (WCC) play, as the matchup in San Diego marks the final road contest of the regular season for the Waves.
Four Waves currently feature in the ITA singles rankings, featuring
Anastasiia Grechkina (No. 19),
Živa Falkner (No. 32),
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (No. 40) and
Duru Söke (No. 115).
Grechkina has gone 7-5 in singles and 9-2 in doubles this spring, and has won her past two singles matchups. She holds a 2-0 mark in WCC doubles play, earning wins alongside Falkner and Chanal Sauvant, as she boasts a 7-2 overall mark this season as a duo with Sauvant.
Falkner is coming off her third WCC Singles Player of the Week honor this past Tuesday, after earning a 6-1, 6-1 win at the No. 1 position against Portland. Falkner has been steady at flight one for the Waves all season, with a 6-6 record and 3-3 mark against ranked opponents.
Zhiyenbayeva has led the Waves with a 12-2 singles record this season, as she has earned seven WCC Freshman of the Week honors to this point. She is currently 2-0 in conference play this season, and has not dropped a set in a WCC matchup yet.
Falkner and Zhiyenbayeva came in at No. 8 in the most recent ITA double rankings, as the tandem has gone 7-1 this season at the No. 1 position with a 4-0 mark against ranked pairs. They are currently riding a four-match win streak together.
Söke and
Alexia Harmon have been dominant all season for the Waves splitting time between the No. 5 and 6 position. Söke has gone 10-0 in singles including 2-0 in conference play, while Harmon has won nine straight singles decisions for an 11-2 mark overall.
Sauvant has won her past five singles matches, and is now 9-4 on the season. She has earned a pair of WCC Singles Player of the Week nods to this point, and has a team-high four conference wins without dropping a WCC match yet.
Shihomi Leong has won three straight singles matches as well for the Waves, and is 7-3 alongside Söke in doubles.
Pepperdine enters the ranked matchup against San Diego with an 8-2 record versus ranked opponents this spring. The Waves have also gone a perfect 6-0 on the road this season.
The Waves boast a 65-6 all-time record against the Toreros, which includes a 23-3 mark on the road in the series. Pepperdine fell 4-3 this past April at San Diego, before defeating the Toreros in the WCC Championship match.
San Diego enters play with a 9-8 overall record, most recently defeating No. 54 Rice this past weekend before falling at No. 38 Baylor on Tuesday. The Toreros have gone 3-0 in conference play so far, earning wins over No. 65 LMU, Portland and Santa Clara.
Hannah Read has led the way for San Diego this season with an 11-5 singles record. She is 2-0 in conference play and currently sits at No. 119 in the ITA singles rankings.
The Waves will have over a week off before returning at home on Tuesday, April 14, taking on LMU at 4 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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