No. 11 Women's Tennis Advances to NCAA Super Regional with 4-0 Win Against No. 30 Stanford
5/2/2026 8:10:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. — No. 11 Pepperdine women's tennis (20-4, 7-0 WCC) earned its second straight 4-0 win to begin its NCAA Tournament run, defeating No. 30 Stanford (14-11, 7-5 ACC) in the NCAA Round of 32 Saturday from Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
The Waves have now punched their ticket into the NCAA Super Regionals for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons. Pepperdine's Round of 16 matchup will take place either at No. 6 Oklahoma or back home against No. 26 SMU next weekend. Match details will be available following tomorrow's second round matchup between the Sooners and Mustangs, set for Noon PT in Norman, Okla.
Pepperdine has now won nine straight matches and has yet to drop a point in its first two NCAA Tournament contests.Â
With today's result, Pepperdine reached 20 dual match victories for the 22nd time in program history and ninth time in the past ten full seasons.
"I'm very proud of this group. What a statement from our girls today," said head coach Tassilo Schmid. "It was impressive to take the first two rounds in the way that we did. Nothing changes. We'll get back to it on Monday and continue to do our thing and get better."
The Waves secured the doubles point against the Cardinal before claiming singles wins from Živa Falkner, Alexia Harmon and Anastasiia Grechkina in straight sets.
Duru Söke and Shihomi Leong earned their second straight doubles win in the NCAA Tournament, claiming a 6-2 win on court three. The duo is now 11-3 on the season as a tandem.
The Cardinal responded with a doubles win on court two, leaving the doubles point to be decided by Falkner and Sonja Zhiyenbayeva on court one. The Pepperdine duo, currently ranked No. 16 in the ITA doubles rankings, got a pair of breaks to clinch the doubles point. They defeated Caroline Driscoll and Monika Ekstrand, 6-3, moving to 12-1 this spring.
Moving to singles, Pepperdine won the first set on five of six courts and finished the match in just over two hours total time.
Falkner was first to win for the Waves, making it 2-0 with a victory on court one. She defeated No. 32 Ekstrand, 6-1, 6-3. Falkner has won seven straight singles decisions and sits 11-6 on the season for the Waves.
Harmon was next on court six, as the lone Wave to win her singles match against both UCSB and Stanford this weekend. Harmon defeated Emma Sun, 6-3, 6-2, earning her 13th straight singles win this spring.
Grechkina clinched the match on court two for the Waves, taking down No. 56 Alyssa Ahn. Grechkina posted a 6-3, 6-3 win to secure the shutout for Pepperdine, as she now sits 10-6 in singles this spring.
Söke's match was abandoned on court five while she had a match point, leading 6-2, 5-2.
Chantal Sauvant had won her first set on court four before being abandoned in the second.
Zhiyenbayeva had dropped her first set on court three, but led 4-0 in the second when the match was clinched.
The Waves boast a 12-2 record this season against ranked opponents, and have now defeated Stanford twice in the same season for the second time in program history (2021).
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 16 Živa Falkner/Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) def. Caroline Driscoll/Monika Ekstrand (STAN): 6-3
2. Alyssa Ahn/Tianmei Wang (STAN) def. Anastasiia Grechkina/Chantal Sauvant (PEPP): 6-2
3. Shihomi Leong/Duru Söke (PEPP) def. Sein Myoung/Morgan Shaffer (STAN): 6-2
Order of finish: 3,2,1
Singles
1. No. 40 Živa Falkner (PEPP) def. No. 32 Monika Ekstrand (STAN): 6-1, 6-3
2. No. 35 Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) def. No. 56 Alyssa Ahn (STAN): 6-3, 6-3
3. No. 48 Sonja Zhiyenbayeva (PEPP) ABN vs. Tianmei Wang (STAN): 5-7, 4-0
4. Chantal Sauvant (PEPP) ABN vs. Caroline Driscoll (STAN): 6-2, 3-2
5. No. 121 Duru Söke (PEPP) ABN vs. Sein Myoung (STAN): 6-2, 5-2
6. Alexia Harmon (PEPP) def. Emma Sun (STAN): 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 1,6,2
Pepperdine will await its NCAA Super Regional matchup, pending the result of tomorrow's contest between No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 26 SMU.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN'S TENNIS
Pepperdine women's tennis has been a consistent powerhouse in the collegiate scene, reaching 41 NCAA Tournaments since 1982 including 29 straight appearances. Since 2018, the program has seen three national runner-ups between both singles and doubles while reaching an NCAA Super Regional as a team nine times in the past ten tournaments. The success at the conference level has been paramount with 34 WCC Championships including an active streak of 12 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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Players Mentioned
