College Tennis News - Despite Rain, Waves Shine in Win vs. Michigan

MALIBU, Calif. – Despite a few scattered sprinkles across the Malibu area, the rain did little to dampen the Pepperdine men’s tennis team’s day at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. The #12 Waves defeated #30 Michigan, 4-3. Mousheg Hovhannisyan provided the difference maker for Pepperdine, grinding out a three-set win to clinch the team victory.

The Wolverines took the early advantage, posting two doubles victories to clinch the point.

David Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia/Sydney Distance Education HS) quickly evened the score, posting a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Shaun Bernstein on court six.

The match went back-and-forth from there, as Alex Petrone put another point on the board for Michigan, only to be matched by Finn Tearney (Wellington, New, Zealand/Wellington College). Tearney topped #67-ranked Vlad Stefan 6-3, 6-2 to knot the match up 2-2.

Sebastian Fanselow (Essen, Germany/Kaplan College Prep) fell behind 2-5 in the second set after dropping the first to Evan King. Although the senior mounted an incredible comeback and threated to break late, King held on 6-4 in the second to secure the win.

After a brief break in the action due to rain, the Waves and Wolverines returned to the court.

Francis Alcantara (Cagayan de Oro, Philippines/Fresno State) rebounded from a first set loss and downed Michael Zhu 6-1, 6-2 in the following frames.

Hovhannisyan (North Hollywood, Calif./Continental Academy) was up 1-0 in the third set vs. Barrett Franks when action resumed. The senior broke Franks early to take a 2-0 advantage, but the Wolverine got right back on serve the very next game.

Hovhannisyan broke Franks serve once again, and then held serve to take a 4-1 lead. Franks did not go away quietly however, and broke late to knot the score up at 5-all.

Back on serve, the Wave went up 6-5 and was forced with the task of breaking Franks’ serve once more or go to the tiebreaker. Hovhannisyan came through and won 7-5 to tally the win and secure the team victory for Pepperdine.

The Waves face #3 USC, the defending NCAA Champion, on Friday at Marks Stadium. Live scoring for the 3 p.m. match can be followed here.

Michigan vs Pepperdine
Mar 05, 2013 at Malibu, Calif.
(Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)

#12 Pepperdine 4, #30 Michigan 3
Singles
1. #16 Evan King (UM) def. #7 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) 6-2, 6-4
2. #83 Finn Tearney (PEP) def. #67 Vlad Stefan (UM) 6-3, 6-2
3. Alex Petrone (UM) def. #73 Alex Sarkissian (PEP) 6-2, 6-1
4. #87 Francis Alcantara (PEP) def. Michael Zhu (UM) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Barrett Franks (UM) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
6. David Sofaer (PEP) def. Shaun Bernstein (UM) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
1. #14 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein (UM) def. #27 Finn Tearney/Francis Alcantara (PEP) 8-5
2. Sebastian Fanselow/Alex Sarkissian (PEP) vs. Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (UM) 6-5, unfinished
3. Barrett Franks/Alex Buzzi (UM) def. David Sofaer/Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) 8-4

Match Notes:
Michigan 4-5; National ranking #30
Pepperdine 10-2; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,3,2,1,4,5)