GREG BARNETT
Sports Editor
The No.-17 Pepperdine women’s tennis team won its third consecutive match Wednesday afternoon with a 7-0 sweep over San Diego State at the Ralphs-Strauss Tennis Center. The Waves dropped only one set in the entire match and remained perfect in winning the doubles point in dual-match play this season.
“[San Diego State] plays really well but they tend to tighten up in crucial games and crucial points,” Head Coach Gualberto Escudero said after the match. “That’s what their tendency is, not tough enough, and we knew that so we told the players to be tough on them and they’ll give you the match.”
In doubles play, seniors Bianca Dulgheru and Sylvia Kosakowski crushed the Aztecs duo of sophomore Kathryn Kitts and senior Sisse Nielsen (8-0). Sophomore Anete Bandere and freshman Anu Bhargava defeated junior Holly Bagshaw and senior Eliska Krausova (8-3). Finally, sophomores Jill Braverman and Tania Rice posted an 8-2 win over sophomore Ozge Atalay and freshman Olivia Colman.
“I think today my partner and I played the best doubles we’ve ever played together, it was great,” Braverman said. “I feel like I was running really well and hitting aggressive backhands.”
In singles action, the Waves jumped to a 3-0 lead with two quick victories by Dulgheru and Braverman. Dulgheru defeated Krausova (6-1, 6-1), and Braverman downed Nielsen by the same margin.
“I was just very consistent from the beginning and barely missed anything,” Dulgheru said. “I just tried to hit the ball in, and when I had the opportunity I went in for the shot.”
Following the two quick victories, Bandere downed junior Milana Yusupov (7-5, 6-2), and Rice followed suit with a victory over Colman (6-3, 6-4).
Since Pepperdine had already won the match, Kosakowski’s third set went into a super tiebreaker, which she won to win the match (4-6, 7-5, 10-6). The last match to end was Bhargava’s, who won her 10th consecutive singles match over junior Esther Cadua (6-4, 7-5).
Last Sunday, the Waves swept Sacramento State to give the Hornets their first loss of the season and the Waves their second consecutive win.
Pepperdine swept all three doubles matches. Dulgheru and Kosakowski defeated Katrina Zheltova and Melissa Valenzuela (8-1) while Bhargava and Bandere avoided a second doubles loss with a win in a tiebreaker over Aileen Tsan and Anastassia Lyssenko, 8-7 (10-8). Rice and Braverman easily took care of Luba Schifris and Karina Jarlkaganova (8-3).
In singles action, the Waves only dropped one set en route to six victories. Rice lost her first set, but rallied to win the second and won the super tiebreaker to take the match (3-6, 6-3, 10-6).
Next up for the Waves is a trip to San Diego to play the Toreros on Saturday at 10 a.m.
02-14-2008
