GREG BARNETT
Sports Editor
The No.-13 Pepperdine men’s tennis team won its seventh consecutive match Wednesday with a win over the No.-42 University of California Golden Bears. With the victory, the Waves improved to 10-6 on the season.
Head Coach Adam Steinberg said the team didn’t play great in the match but fought hard in the doubles, and winning that point decided the match.
“We’re playing so well at the top of the lineup, Andre (Begemann) and Bassam (Beidas) are almost unbeatable,” Steinberg said after the match. “We’re excited, we have to keep it going, but we still have a long way to go.”
The Waves won the doubles point after struggling earlier in the season in the doubles competition. The No.-1 tandem of seniors Begemann and Omar Altmann won a tough match, 9-7.
“We came out flat-footed and not on top of our game,” Altmann said. “But we found our way back in, those guys are really good but a couple shots here and there saved a lot of match points.”
The No.-2 team of freshman Johannes de Villiers and Beidas were the first team to finish, getting Pepperdine after quickly defeating Kallim Stewart and Eoin Heavey, 8-4. Finally, the No.-3 pair of sophomores Mahmoud Kamel and James Lemke won its match over Jonathan Dahan and Bozhidar Katsarov, 8-6.
In singles play, Pepperdine’s top three players won their matches to clinch the victory. Begemann, ranked No.-10 nationally, easily won his match over No.-116 Stewart (6-1, 6-3).
“I just served really well and tried to stay focused to finish the match quickly to save energy for Saturday,” Begemann said.
Beidas, ranked No.-20 nationally, also took his match quite easily over Heavey (6-2, 6-2) and in No.-3 singles, Altmann won his first set and then didn’t drop a game in the second set against Pierre Moullion (6-2, 6-0).
Rounding out singles play, Lemke was forced to retire against Dahan due to a hip flexor injury after winning the first set and leading the second set (6-3, 3-2). Kamel couldn’t muster a comeback in his No.-5 singles match against Pedro Zerbini (4-6, 3-6). Finally, de Villiers won his first set, dropped the second set and lost the 10-point tiebreaker on a questionable call. De Villiers fought back from being down early in the tiebreak to get within one point, 8-9, but his opponent, Katsarov, called a backhand winner down the line out to win (6-4, 3-6, 8-10).
The Waves continue their homestand Saturday when they host Harvard University at 1 p.m. at the Ralphs-Strauss Tennis Center.
“We’re just trying to get better every match,” Begemann said. “It doesn’t matter what team we play.”
03-27-2008
