SHUHEI MATSUO
Assistant Sports Editor
Warm weather, beautiful beaches and two victories. For the Waves, nothing could go wrong in Hawaii.
The 15th-ranked men’s tennis team spent four days in the Aloha state and defeated Hawaii 7-0 on Friday and No.-38 California 4-1 on Saturday. With these wins, the Waves extended their winning streak to six and snapped their away losing streak at five.
During Friday’s game, Pepperdine captured every point from doubles and singles and swept host Hawaii.
Although Saturday’s game against the Golden Bears did not go as smooth as the previous match, it was another win for Pepperdine.
The Waves quickly grabbed the doubles point with two 8-5 victories. Pepperdine’s No.-2 pair, junior Andre Begemann and freshman Mahmound Kamel, held off Cal’s Geoff Chizever and Eolin Heavey, while the No.-3 duo of freshmen Bassam Beidas and James Lemke defeated Pierre Mouillon and Daniel Sebescen.
In singles, Ken Nakahara defeated Kamel at court six for Cal’s only point of the match. At courts one, two and three, the Waves posted straight set victories to add three more points. The teams did not complete the No.-4 and No.-5 singles matches, as the final team results had already been determined.
Winning two games and enjoying the beaches during their day off, it seems the Waves had some fun in Hawaii. But it was not quite a late spring break for the team.
“Even though it was a sweet trip, we still had to take care of business first,” Begemann said, recalling the trip to Hawaii. “We still didn’t play great, but we stayed together and won.”
Begemann also said the win over Cal was especially important because that made Pepperdine one step closer to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Championships in May. The top 16 teams in the nation at the end of the season are able to be the hosts for this biggest tournament of the year.
The Waves are back in action Friday when they put their 52-match home winning streak on the line against Louisville at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
This season, Pepperdine holds a perfect record of 9-0 at home, while the team seems to suffer on the road with a 4-6 record. Even though many of those away losses were against top teams, the Waves still seem to play better at home.
“It’s just the home crowd,” Begemann explained. “It’s special for me because we are used to these courts and feel more comfortable. I love playing at home.”
He also added the great support from the community, but there is one more reason.
“And this is the most beautiful campus in the country,” he said. “So that’s not so bad either.”
03-29-2007
