The No. 7-ranked Pepperdine Men’s Tennis (12-6) team continues their impressive season after a win over No. 8 Stanford (10-5) with a final score of 6-1.
The Waves have now won nine matches in a row, and a impressive three game win streak against top-10 ranked opponents. Other notable wins during this streak include victories over top talents like the No. 12-ranked California Golden Bears and the No. 21-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.
The Waves were able to decisively defeat the Cardinals yesterday getting off to a quick start with doubles teammates Sebastian Fanselow and Jenson Turner who quickly won their match 8-3. Their teammates Hugh Clarke and David Sofaer performed just as well in their 8-5 win.
The Waves would go on to dominate the whole day after eventually winning all of their doubles matches. Pepperdine would win all but one of their matches showing their strength as a team.
The Men’s Tennis team has bounced back in a strong way against non-conference opponents recently. Before the current winning streak, the team was struggling on a six game losing streak. The Waves faced higher ranked teams in five of the six games. These tough loses included defeats to teams such as the No. 1-ranked USC Trojans, the No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 5-ranked UCLA Bruins.
“The team never gave up, especially in practice,” freshman Kento Tanaka-Tamaki said. “We worked harder and harder to get each other better.”
The team’s work ethic in addition to the top talent of the top-ranked duo of Finn Tearney and Alex Llompart have helped contribute to the Waves success. They have defeated opponents such as the Ohio State No. 1-ranked doubles team. In addition, singles talent Sebastian Fanselow (No. 11) contributed with a win over Duke’s top singles player Henrique Cunha (No. 2).
These performances allowed the Waves to climb up five spots from their pre-season No. 12-ranking.
For instance, in their match against No. 17 Washington, Pepperdine showed a spectacular team effort. As a result Pepperdine won the match 7-0.
This was an impressive accomplishment considering the Huskies were enjoying a seven-game winning streak.
The Waves look to take this momentum into a doubleheader against conference foes Santa Clara and San Francisco on April 1. The Waves are currently the highest ranked team in the WCC and thus are favored to succeed. They are not alone. The San Diego Toreros are also among the top ranked at No. 19 and are expected to challenge the Waves on April 4.
Despite the team’s success in the WCC, all the players, including Tanaka-Tamaki, are staying focused.
“We are just taking every match one game at a time,” Tanaka-Tamaki said. “Our goal is to win the National Championship.”
