SHUHEI MATSUO
Assistant Sports Editor
One loss seems just enough for the No.-9 Pepperdine men’s tennis team.
After losing their season-opening game against No.-5 Illinois, 4-3, on Jan. 19, the Waves captured every point in doubles and singles matches, giving them two 7-0 perfect victories in a row.
Pepperdine improved to 2-1 for the season when it swept cross-town rival Loyola Marymount 7-0 at Wednesday’s home opener.
In doubles, freshman duo Bassam Beidas and James Lemke picked up a win, defeating Renzo Maggi and Sam Tadevosian, 8-2 at Court 3. Junior Andre Begemann and freshman Mahmoud Kamel defeated Matt Philips and Nick Perez, 8-6 at Court 2, while sophomore Omar Altmann and senior Richard Johnson handed Nico Terrien and Jacek Twarowski a 9-8 defeat at Court 1.
Individually, Kamel dominated Maggi 6-1, 6-1 and picked up the team’s first singles win.
“I feel great,” he said. “I did exactly what Steiny (Head Coach Adam Steinberg) told me to do.”
Having a perfect record of 3-0 in singles this season, his first college tennis season may not get much better than this. But the only thing, he said, is that he really wanted to open the season at home Sunday. The scheduled home opener against Cal Poly on Sunday was rescheduled and another Sunday’s game against UC Santa Barbara was canceled due to rain.
“I really wanted to play because it was a home opener on Sunday,” Kamel said. “A lot of people would have been here for that.”
Pepperdine’s No.-1 singles player Begemann followed Kamel with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Terrien. With this win, Begemann improved to 2-1 in singles.
“I played pretty good,” he said with a relief. “It’s the first match at home, always tough to play well.”
As one of the team leaders, Begemann’s focus is not only on his game but also on the team.
“Winning a championship is always nice, but defending is even tougher,” he said. “[The main goal is] to get the same spirit we had last year – staying and playing together as a team.”
Echoing his teammate, Kamel also said he wants to play to defend the title.
“The main goal is to give 100 percent on the court every game,” he said. “That’s the only way to defend our title.”
The Waves continue their three-match home stand Saturday when they host Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara in a conference double header. The games begin at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, respectively.
On the women’s side, the No. 14 Waves defeated No.-55 UC Irvine, 6-1, Friday afternoon at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
At No.-1 doubles, senior Eva Dickes and junior Sylvia Kosakowski gave Pepperdine its first win as the duo handed Becky Bernhard and Clare Fermin an 8-4 defeat. Junior Bianca Dulgheru and freshman Katia Sabate dominated at No. 2 with an 8-3 win over Jessica Broadfoot and Heidi Kaloi to give the Waves the doubles point.
It looked as if the Anteaters would pull out a victory at No. 3, but freshman Anete Bandere and senior Caroline Raba came from behind to defeat Ali Borowicz and Jayme Hu 11-9 in the tiebreaker for an 8-7 victory.
Two days later the women were in the middle of doubles action at No.-3 USC’s Marks Stadium, but the winner would not be decided until Sunday after heavy rain delayed the tight matches. The Waves returned to USC to resume play, but ultimately fell, 6-1, to the Trojans.
The Waves are next in action at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis. Action begins on Thursday, Feb. 1 and continues until Sunday, Feb. 4.
02-01-2007
