When heading into the National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago Ill. on Friday the Waves knew they were up against the wall. The men’s tennis team entered the tournament as the bottom seed in a field of 16 schools meaning its first round opponent was the No.-1 Ohio State Buckeyes.
Pepperdine played tough against Ohio taking a singles point and a doubles point while keeping the other games very close eventually losing by a score of 4-2.
Senior Omar Altmann and junior Bassam Beidas upset Ohio State’s No.-1 doubles team of Steve Moneke and Justin Kronauge 8-6. Freshmen Alex Llompart and Hugh Clarke took down their opponent by the same score to secure the doubles point for the Waves. A great start to the day.
“We had great energy and everyone played really aggressively Beidas said.
Unfortunately, the singles matches proved to be the Buckeyes’ strength. Sophomore Alejandro Moreno lost to Balazs Novak (OSU) 6-3, 6-1, and junior Moodi Kamel was defeated 6-0, 6-2 by Matt Allare (OSU). The lone bright spot in singles was Altmann’s 6-4, 6-4 win over the No.-6 player in the nation, Justin Kronauge (OSU).
The Waves dropped the match 4-2 and took on the No.-10 Baylor Bears on the other side of the bracket Saturday.
Once again, the Waves lit up their opponents in doubles. Altmann and Beidas nearly blanked their two opponents, winning 8-1. Another impressive performance by Llompart and Clarke (8-5) put the Waves on the scoreboard early 1-0.
No.-51 Altmann took control of his singles match posting a 6-2, 6-2 win over No.-13 Jordan Rux (BU). Llompart added a 6-2, 6-2 win over Julian Bley (BU) to tie the score at 3-3 putting the Waves within striking distance. Also, Beidas lost his first set 4-6 to Denes Lukacs (BU) and proceeded to take him to a 6-6 tiebreak in the second. However, Lukacs was victorious in the tiebreaker, giving the Bears the final point and the 4-3 win.
On Sunday, the Waves moved to the consolation bracket in hopes of not leaving Chicago winless. As the 16th seed, Pepperdine still was considered the underdog but apparently no one told No.-12 Tulsa. The Waves took out their frustration from the day before and swept Tulsa 4-0.
Altmann and Beidas continued their hot streak, edging out Arnau Brugues and Phillip Stephens (Tulsa), 9-8. Kamel and Moreno upended their opponents 8-6 to win the doubles point.
Our whole doubles lineup is starting to feel solid Moreno said. We can compete and beat any team in the country playing the way we did against Tulsa.”
Kamel bounced back from Saturday’s disappointing singles performance and defeated Tulsa’s Alberto Sottocorno 6-4 6-3 in straight sets. Llompart also won 6-0 7-6 to bring his overall season record to 8-2.
“The sweep was unreal Moreno said. We all played unbelievable.”
Even after the two losses to begin the tournament the Waves maintained a positive attitude.
“We knew we could still leave Chicago with at least one good win and we went out and got it Beidas said.
Up next, the No.-20 Waves will travel north to Palo Alto, Calif. to play No.-11 Stanford tomorrow. They will remain in Northern California on Sunday to take on California before returning home Wednesday for a 2 p.m. match-up against Michigan.