SHUHEI MATSUO
Sports Assistant
No.-9 Pepperdine men’s tennis is off to a great start in the 2006 season after defeating the nation’s No. 1 team, Virginia, by a score of 4-3 on Tuesday.
For the first half of the match, Pepperdine dominated the doubles. Senior Scott Doerner and transfer sophomore Andre Begemann from Germany upset the No. 19 nationally ranked doubles team and California natives Rylan Rizza and Darrin Cohen 8-3. Also, two other seniors Pedro Rico and Ivor Lovrak defeated Treat Huey and Eric Riley 8-6 to secure the point.
In singles, Australia native Doerner defeated Malibu native Doug Stewart with a 6-3, 6-0 score while Lovrak captured the win over Rizza 6-3, 6-0. Treat Huey of Virginia beat Pepperdine newcomer Begemann 6-2, 6-3, while another Cavalier Marko Miklo defeated freshman Wave Denis Reinert 6-1, 2-6, 0-6. Junior Richard Johnson fell to Marko Miklo 5-7, 5-7.
Both Pepperdine and Virginia had to rely on Rico and No. 10 Somdey Devvarman’s match for a team victory. Rico took the first set 6-3 and led early in the second set, but Devvarman broke back and was one point away from tying the set up at five. However, the Waves earned the overall 4-3 victory against the highest-ranked team in the nation when Rico clinched the set 6-4.
“Every single match is the same,” Rico said, after the exciting victory over Virginia. “And what we have to do is to keep the intensity throughout the season.”
Although the pre-season rankings of Pepperdine and Virginia were No.-9 and No.-1, the Waves’ upset over the Cavaliers was something that the team expected, according to Steinberg.
“We are little deeper than last year,” Head Coach Adam Steinberg said. “The guys think this is their year, and I think the same way.”
Although the Waves finished last season with No. 8 national rank, the pre-season ranking rated them as No. 9.
“I think the rank is right,” Steinberg said, “but we have the ability to be No.-1.”
Assistant coach Per Nilsson said he was confident about this year’s team.
“Pre-season ranking doesn’t mean anything,” he said, “and we try not to worry about it.”
This year’s team has four seniors who have been “out there” and it is very possible to be the national champions, Nilsson said.
“Our goal for this season is to be No.1 and get the trophy,” Steinberg said. “It’s realistic: not a dream anymore.”
With the season-opening victory over the No.-1 team in the country, this year’s Waves’ goal to get the champion trophy seems to be more tangible than it was before the season.
The Waves will face Saint Mary’s and San Francisco in a double header Saturday, which kicks off at 10 a.m., with the second match scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. Pepperdine will end the weekend journey when they face UC Irvine at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Submitted01-19-2006
