Men’s tennis team dominates clay

Pepperdine’s men’s tennis team continues to clean up some last-minute kinks in preparation for their spring season, following their performance in the Lakewood Ranch Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic in Sarasota, Fla. The tournament included some tough talent and a rare appearance on a clay court. Pepperdine displayed that they can fight tough but also showed that they need some growth.
The team contributed three singles competitors including junior Mousheg Hovhannisyan, and seniors Daniel Moss and Jenson Turner. Pepperdine also contributed a doubles team composed of Hovhannisyan and Turner.
The first round saw Hovhannisyan and Moss take part in action, while 98th-ranked Turner was cut from the competition in the first round. In a tough match against University of Minnesota’s Phillip Arndt, Turner fell by a score of 6-3, 7-5.
Turner’s counterpart and number 111th-ranked Mousheg Hovhannisyan also experienced a tough match against Duke’s Raphael Hemmeler. Hohvannisyan showed true grit on the clay after dropping the first set to Hemmeler but found a way to win the match.
Hovhannisyan then won the second set in a tiebreaker, going on to outlast Hemmeler and win the third set decisively with the match final score being 4-6, 7-6 and 6-1.
Hovhannisyan, a North Hollywood native would prove to be Pepperdine’s most effective performer in the Lakewood Ranch Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic with a victory over University of Minnesota’s new recruit from France, Mathieu Froment, in the Round of 16 (round two) with a final score of 6-2, 6-2. Hovhannisyan then had to face top-seeded and No. 12-ranked sophomore Marcel Thiemann from University of Mississippi. Although not truly reflected in the final 6-3, 6-3 score, Hovhannisyan put up a tough battle against the German native Theiman.
Hovhannisyan would end up being the only Pepperdine student to reach the quarterfinals in the Clay Court Classic due to Jenson Turner’s surprise lost to University of Arizonia’s Giacomo Miccini 6-3, 7-5. In addition, the doubles team lost 9-7 in their first match to University of Florida’s Andrew Butz and Michael Alford.
This tournament offered Pepperdine’s men’s tennis team a unique opportunity to play on a clay surface. Waves Turner and Moss identified the tournament as a “learning experience.”
The tournament concludes Pepperdine’s fall season tournament run and gives the team ample time to prepare for their Jan. 22 match against Fresno State and start their campaign to return to the NCAA tournament.