By Lindsey Besecker
Assistant Sports Editor
Pepperdine will travel to Illinois this weekend to face Purdue and No. 6 Illinois, a team that stand two spots ahead of Pepperdine in the national rankings.
The Waves take on Purdue Friday in Champaign, Ill., and then face Illinois Saturday.
“(The Illinois match) is going to be intense,” freshman Brian Wright said. “They are going to have a lot of fans trying to get in our heads. If we can go and beat them it will show how good we really are.”
The Waves will take the experience they have gained through the last three matches with them to Illinois.
“Everything is just a preparation,” coach Peter Smith said. “It’ll be tough for us, but it will be good for us. (The match against) Georgia Tech is just what we needed.”
The No. 8 Pepperdine men’s tennis team improved its record to 3-0 at home Friday with a 6-1 dual-match victory over No. 24 Georgia Tech.
“It was nice to have a good competitive match,” Wright said. “They fought really hard.”
The Waves swept the crucial doubles sets in the match at the Ralph Strauss Tennis Center.
The only loss the Waves suffered was in the No. 6 singles spot, occupied by sophomore Diego Acuna.
In singles play against Georgia Tech, four of the six matches went into three sets. Senior Al Garland defeated Georgia Tech’s Roger Anderson 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 1 singles match.
In other singles action, senior Stefan Suter overcame the Yellow Jackets’ Joao Menano 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, while sophomore Calle Hansen routed David Wright 6-1, 3-6. 6-1.
Senior Steve Racioppi defeated Georgia Tech’s Stephen Moros 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Freshman Johan Berg overcame Scott Schnugg 6-1, 7-5.
Acuna lost in three sets to West Nott, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.
In doubles action, senior Sebastien Graeff teamed up with Hansen to defeat the Yellow Jackets’ team of Anderson and Wright, 8-4.
Garland and Suter downed Nott and Schnugg 8-2, while Pepperdine tandem Berg and Wright routed Menano and Moro 8-4.
The match marked Wright’s first experience at the college level.
“(Playing at the college level) is a lot harder,” Wright said. “Everyone is more fired up to play. I’m playing for a school now and not for myself.
“There’s more pressure, but it’s a fun pressure. It’s nice to get a match under my belt,” he continued.
Pepperdine plays away from home this weekend for the first time this season.
“We are in the National Team Indoors the week (after we face Illinois),” Smith said. “We will go to Illinois to get some tough matches indoors, then we go and play Notre Dame (at the NTI’s). We have to get tough.”
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Photo by Jennifer Flannery
SHAKE ON IT: Graeff and Hansen shake on an 8-4 doubles victory.
January 31, 2002