SHUHEI MATSUO
Assistant Sports Editor
The Waves have forgotten how to lose in Malibu.
The Pepperdine men’s tennis team extended its home winning streak to 53 straight games when it dominated Louisville 6-1 on Friday. After dropping a close 4-3 match against No.-4 Baylor on the road Sunday, the team came back home to capture its 54th straight victory at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
The team remained undefeated at home with an 11-0 record and improved 15-7 for the season.
Despite Wednesday’s dominating victory, Head Coach Adam Steinberg said there were some ups and downs in the game. However, it was good to see his players can play with good energy throughout a game, he added.
“We were OK out there. But I feel like we could have played better,” he said.
However, he said he is proud of the record-breaking home winning streak he has accomplished since 2004.
“It is a great accomplishment,” he said. “We just feel so comfortable at home, and I think the courts and the weather suit our tennis. So we just love playing at home. I guess I should schedule every match at home.”
Senior player Richard Johnson said this accomplishment means a lot for him and his teammates because they have beaten some tough teams, including Florida States for the 50th win, 2006 pre-season No.-1 Virginia, Baylor, Stanford and Illinois.
“There are a lot of good wins, not just like we were protecting what we have,” Johnson said. “It’s pretty impressive that we can beat that many teams when we are playing at home.”
Even though freshman player Bassam Beidas has contributed to 10 of those 54 wins at home, he still has not yet experienced a loss in Malibu.
“Obviously, we are happy that we keep winning at home,” Beidas said. “We are not really looking at short term, but more at long term, the NCAA in May. We are just trying to build up for [the championships].”
Steinberg feels the same way.
“We are defending the national championship, and that’s our job,” the head coach said. “Everybody is coming after us. We just need to improve a little bit, and we can do it.”
Pepperdine has four more regular-season matches left, and three of them are at home. The next game will be at home against University of San Diego on Saturday at 1 p.m.
04-05-2007
