Despite the invincibility of senior Omar Altmann who captured a win in both doubles and singles the men’s tennis team was unable to overcome the power and consistency of No.-6 Ohio State on Monday losing 6-1. From the start the Waves came out in doubles lacking energy and floundered against the Buckeyes on courts 4 and 6.
Freshmen Alex Llompart and Hugh Clarke lost to Steve Moneke and Balazs Novak 8-4 while junior Moodi Kamel and sophomore Stuart Keplar lost their match 8-4 as well. The slow start gave Ohio St. the quick 1-0 lead from which it never looked back.
“In doubles we didn’t come out with a good enough intensity to beat a team like them Altmann said. We played Ohio State in national indoors and we just came right at them. Everyone was on the same page we had very high energy high intensity and good support and we lacked that today. Against top teams we can’t afford to have lapses like we did.”
The lone bright spot was the No.-17 doubles tandem of Altmann and junior Bassam Beidas who dominated from the opening serve winning in an impressive fashion 8-1. The win improves the duo’s record to 17-2.
An enthusiastic and supportive fan base was unfortunately not enough to give the Waves an edge against the Buckeyes in singles. In front of the largest home crowd of the year the team dropped five of its six matches. Altmann was the only Wave to secure a victory. He knocked off Chase Buchanan 6-4 6-0.
Beidas suffered a rare singles loss to the No.-3 player in America Bryan Koniecko 6-4 6-4. Sophomore Alejandro Moreno lost to Balazs Novak 6-1 6-1 although there was a silver lining.
“I played aggressive and the guy hit really good shots but at least I know how I need to play against Baylor and Rice now Moreno said. If we can make adjustments based on guys like Koniecko then everything will get easier from there.”
Pepperdine heads east to the Lone Star State to kick off its three-day road trip against the Rice Owls in Houston and the Baylor Bears in Waco Texas beginning Friday. The Waves are looking to avenge their 4-3 Valentine’s Day loss to the Bears and move up in the national rankings.
“Last time we played Baylor it came down to the last match and we lost 4-3 so we owe them one Altmann said. We need to work on a few things and just keep getting better.”