GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
The Pepperdine men’s tennis team picked up two more victories over the weekend in Texas, pushing their season record to 21-1. The Waves downed Texas Christian University on Saturday in a 4-0 sweep then followed it by taking out UC Berkeley 5-2 Sunday afternoon.
The Waves’ first of two road trips to the Lonestar State during the spring season was a success because of stellar play in both doubles and singles competition. Against the Horned Frogs, the Waves took two of three doubles matches then let the senior singles players take over as the Waves’s elder players won three matches in two sets.
Senior Scott Doerner, the fourth-ranked player in the nation, took out Andrei Mlendea 6-4, 6-3, senior Pedro Rico downed Rafael Abreu 6-2, 6-2 and senior Ivor Lovrak beat Cosmin Cotet 6-2, 6-2.
“I think with our senior leadership has been incredible,” said Head Coach Adam Steinberg. “They’re on a mission to win a national title and we’ve just followed in their footsteps. They refuse to lose and every time they get out there they play like it’s the last time they’ll play college tennis.”
Pepperdine’s second match of the weekend, against No-28 Cal, saw the Waves take the doubles point again before winning four of the six singles matches. Pepperdine’s No.-1 ranked doubles team of sophomore Andre Begemann and Doerner took down the Conor Niland-Tyler Browne duo, 8-3, but Niland got his revenge on Doerner, upsetting the Waves’ top player 6-4, 6-3.
Steinberg said the upset didn’t surprise him, despite Doerner’s impressive season.
“I’m never surprised in college tennis, especially playing No.-1 (position),” Steinberg said. “Scott’s been having an amazing year. It’s hard through 30 matches to play great every time. I think his focus was more on the team than on himself and that hurt him in the end. Scott’s been amazing for us, and I expect to get back to his winning ways this weekend.”
The other Waves’ singles players picked up the slack for Doerner as Rico, Lovrak, Begemann and freshman Omar Altmann won their matches. Junior Richard Johnson dropped his singles match, but Pepperdine still won 5-2 because of the total team effort, according to Steinberg.
“As the year goes on, if one guy lets down another steps up,” Steinberg said. “We’ve just been very consistent.”
Steinberg said this season’s success boils down to one thing.
“Confidence,” Steinberg said. “The guys just believe every time they step on the court, they’re going to win. It’s contagious.”
Steinberg said the confidence that dwells in this team was first brought on by the senior leadership but has worked its way through every Waves player, making for a total team effort every time they play.
“It’s now deeper within every player,” Steinberg said. “I think the seniors started it but now it’s instilled in everybody. They’ve led us to the great season we’re having. Off the court and on the court, it’s their team.
“The younger guys feed off it,” he continued. “Andre, Omar, Denis and Oliver are all very good players they just needed to instill the team aspect of it. There’s a huge team aspect to what we do. Now everyone’s on same page and working together, and we know if we do that we can win a national championship.”
Pepperdine will play host to Harvard University on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a match against West Coast Conference foe Santa Clara University at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Steinberg said he expects another stellar effort from the second-ranked Waves.
“I expect to see the same thing as always, that’s an incredible effort and for us to play like it’s our last match of year,” Steinberg said. “We want to keep our home win streak alive and I expect a great performance.”
03-30-2006
