It was a rollercoaster week for the Pepperdine women’s tennis team. On Saturday the team started the week strong with a 5-2 win over No.-60 William and Mary. However the team suffered a 5-2 loss to No.-26 Texas Christian University on Sunday before falling to No.-10 USC on Wednesday 6-1.
On Saturday the Waves were down through much of the doubles matches but still managed to fight their way back. The Waves’ No. 79-ranked doubles pair of sophomore Anamika Bhargava and senior Alex Liles defeated Klaudyna Kasztelania and Carmen Pop (8-4). This brought their record to 11-1 for the season.
“I think our (Liles’ and Bharagava’s) success with winning has to do with how comfortable we are with each other on the court Bharagava said.
Junior Tania Rice and freshman Andrea Oates out battled Maria Morrissey and Barbara Zidek (9-7) to get the doubles point victory for the Waves.
With their confidence boosted after the doubles matches, the Waves went into singles play, where freshman Ali Walters defeated No. 92 nationally ranked Raginia Archarya.
[Archarya] had a great baseline game and got a lot of balls back Walters said. I was happy with the way I played and happy to bring a point back for the Waves. It was a good team victory.”
After a solid team victory against William and Mary the Waves hit the courts Saturday to play host to No.-26 Texas Christian University.
Unfortunately the Waves were missing three of their top players. Junior Jill Braverman and freshmen Anne-Christine Voicu and Zlatka Petrova were sidelined because injuries. They therefore could not overcome the No.-26 Horned Frogs and fell to TCU 5-2.
On Wednesday the Waves were at home again this time against No.-10 USC. The Trojans proved to be too much for the Waves to handle and the Trojans ran away with a 6-1 win. Walters was Pepperdine’s lone winner who thrived as a replacement for Braverman upsetting No.-22 Sarah Fansler.
“I was focused in my match today Walters said. Sarah is a really good player. I’m really glad I was able to help my team get a point today.”
On Saturday the Waves will travel north to Cal Poly SLO to face the Mustangs.