By Lindsey Besecker
Assistant Sports Editor
The No. 27 Pepperdine women’s tennis team dropped to 1-4 in dual match action after losing matches to No. 1 Stanford and No. 8 Arizona State University last weekend.
All four Pepperdine losses have come against teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation, three in the top 10.
“We were able to see that if we had a little more practice and a little more experience, it could have gone the other way,” freshman Ceyda Keyman said. “A lot of the matches were really close and could have gone the other way around.”
The Waves host Cal Poly today at the Ralph Strauss Tennis Center at 1:30 p.m. The Waves have a week off after the Cal Poly match, then they face Southern California rivals UC Irvine and host UCLA for a rematch of the Jan. 26 match.
“UCLA is very good this year,” Keyman said. “They are in the top five for sure. It’s always easier to play at home. It’s an advantage.”
Pepperdine came off of the loss to UCLA and lost to No. 1 Stanford 5-2 last Saturday at Pepperdine.
Stanford claimed the doubles point and four of six singles points in the victory.
Stanford’s Gabriela Lastra defeated freshman Charlotte Vernaz 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Pepperdine freshman Aleksandra Kujawska took the singles point in the No. 2 spot, overcame Lauren Barnikow 7-5, 7-6.
Cardinal Erin Burdette downed freshman Karin Schlapbach 6-1, 6-2. Freshman Veronica Koksova retired in the second set of her match, allowing Keiko Tokuda to clinch the point.
Emilia Anderson defeated Pepperdine junior Monika Horvath 6-4, 6-1, and freshman Anna Andersson added another point for the Waves, trouncing Story Tweede-Yates 6-0, 7-6.
In doubles, Barnikow and Burdette defeated a Pepperdine team of Kujawska and Schlapbach 8-0. Lastra and Tokuda downed Vernaz and Keyman 8-3.
Stanford tandem Anderson and Kalvaria trounced Koksova and Andersson 8-1 to take the doubles point for the Cardinals.
“It’s always cool to play someone who is No. 1,” Keyman said. “You always play better. Their team is not as strong this year, but they were good.”
Pepperdine hosted Arizona State on Sunday and lost 6-1, its only point coming from the No. 3 singles spot.
Adria Engel defeated Vernaz 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, while Sun Devil Doro Krstulovic overcame Kujawska 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Schlapbach gained Pepperdine’s lone point, downing Mhairir Brown in straight sets 7-6, 6-2.
Arizona’s Megan Yeats defeated Horvath 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. Cindy Sureephong defeated Andersson 7-6, 6-2, and in the No. 6 spot, Lauren Colalillo triumphed over Keyman 6-1, 6-4.
Arizona’s doubles teams swept all three matches to clinch the point. Sureephong and Yeats overcame a team of Kujawska and Schlapbach 8-5, while Colalillo and Engel teamed up to defeat Keyman and Vernaz 8-5. Brown and Joslynn Burkett defeated Andersson and Horvath in the No. 3 spot 8-3.
Pepperdine hopes to take the lessons they learned from their previous two matches with them into the match today and the other matches next week.
“As the season goes on, (we will only) get better,” Keyman said.
February 07, 2002