Pepperdine Team Page
MALIBU, Calif. – The #40 Pepperdine women’s tennis team won five of six singles matches to post a 5-2 victory over Rice on Sunday at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
It was the 2010 home opener for the Waves (2-3), who won’t have another home match until March 5th.
After Rice (3-2) won the doubles point, Pepperdine came back by claiming the first four singles matches to wrap up the victory. Sophomore Ali Walters (Newport Beach, Calif./Creekside Christian HS/UCLA) and freshman Arianna Colffer (Corona, Calif./Buena Vista) won in straight sets at the #2 and #1 positions, respectively.
Junior Anamika Bhargava (Collierville, Tenn./Houston HS) had a dominating 6-0 third set to earn the Waves’ third point at #3 singles, and freshman Marie Zalameda (Los Angeles, Calif./Beverly Hills HS) came through with a third-set win at #5 singles to clinch victory for Pepperdine. The two schools split the final two singles matches.
“The impression that the other coach had of our girls was that they had a lot of heart,” Pepperdine Coach Gualberto Escudero said. “Losing the doubles point can be disheartening. But we felt we could win all six singles matches, and five of six is pretty close. It was almost a perfect day in singles. We’ll learn to win the doubles point, and that will make singles play that much easier.”
Pepperdine visits West Coast Conference rival San Diego next Sunday (Feb. 14) at 11 a.m.
#40 Pepperdine 5, Rice 2
Doubles
1) Ana Guzman/Julie Chao (RICE) def. Anamika Bhargava/Marie Zalameda (PEP), 8-5
2) #44 Jessica Jackson/Alex Rasch (RICE) def. Andrea Oates/Ali Walters (PEP), 9-7
3) Arianna Colffer/Tania Rice (PEP) def. Rebekka Hanle/Rebecca Lin (RICE), 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1) #123 Arianna Colffer (PEP) def. #73 Rebekka Hance (RICE), 6-3, 6-4
2) Ali Walters (PEP) def. Julie Chao (RICE), 6-4, 6-1
3) Anamika Bhargava (PEP) def. Jessica Jackson (RICE), 6-1, 3-6, 6-0
4) Ana Guzman (RICE) def. Andrea Oates (PEP), 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
5) Marie Zalameda (PEP) def. Rebecca Lin (RICE), 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
6) Tania Rice (PEP) def. Alex Rasch (RICE), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6
Records: Pepperdine 2-3, Rice 3-2
