College Tennis News - Waves Welcome Ohio State, Travel to Cal

MALIBU, Calif. - Another challenging week is in store for the #12 Pepperdine men’s tennis team. The Waves host #8 Ohio State on Tuesday, March 12, before traveling to Berkeley to play #24 California on Saturday, March 16. The Waves-Buckeyes match will open at 1 p.m. at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center and Pepperdine scarfs will be given away to fans.

MATCH 14 - Tuesday (March 12) at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center: #12 Pepperdine (10-3, 0-0 WCC) vs. #8 Ohio State (14-2, 1-0 Big Ten) at 1 p.m.

MATCH 15 - Saturday (March 16) at Hellman Tennis Complex: #12 Pepperdine at #24 California (7-5, 0-0 Pac 12) at 3 p.m.

COVERAGE - Live score updates for the Waves’ home matches can be followed at here. Live video is available for Saturday’s match vs. the Golden Bears and can be accessed here.

COME ONE COME ALL - Admission to all regular-season men’s and women’s tennis matches at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center is FREE.

LOOKING AHEAD - Next week, Pepperdine hosts a doubleheader on Wednesday with Loyola Marymount and Princeton ... The Waves and Lions play at 11 a.m. followed by the Waves and Tigers at 4 p.m. ... The weekend brings Oklahoma to the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m.

LOOKING BACK - Pepperdine opened last week with a down-to-the-wire 4-3 triumph vs. #30 Michigan ... Although the Wolverines struck first and won the doubles points, the Waves tallied four singles wins to take the dual ... Mousheg Hovhannisyan gritted out a three-set win to give Pepperdine the dual-clinching fourth point ... Pepperdine followed that up with a strong singles performance vs. #3 USC at the Marks Tennis Stadium, but ultimately fell 4-2 to the four-time defending NCAA Champion ... Francis Alcantara and David Sofaer won for the Waves.

KELLY JONES - The ITA announced it will be inducting Pepperdine alum Kelly Jones, who competed for the Waves from 1983-86, into the ITA Collegiate Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame in a ceremony on May 22. The two-time NCAA Doubles Champion in 1984 and 1985 was a five-time ITA All-American while at Pepperdine and went on to have a successful pro career on the ATP Tour. Jones becomes the fourth Wave to be inducted into the ITA Hall of Fame joining Brad Gilbert, Robbie Weiss and Simon Aspelin.

OHIO STATE - The Buckeyes are 14-2 this season, including a 4-0 win vs. Pepperdine during the ITA National Indoor Championship on Feb. 16 ... The Waves are just 1-6 all-time against OSU ... Pepperdine is 1-1 vs. Ohio State when playing at home ... Ranked singles players for OSU include Peter Kobelt (#2), Blaz Rola (#17), Connor Smith (#28) and Chris Diaz (#40) ... In doubles Devin McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen are listed at #12, while Kobelt and Smith are ranked #16.

CAL - The Golden Bears are 7-5 after upsetting #4 Duke 4-3 over the weekend ... Ranked singles players include Christoffer Konigsfeldt (#34), Ben McLachlan (#56), Campbell Johnson (#69) and Chase Melton (#117) ... Konigsfeldt and Johnson are ranked #18 in doubles ... Ben and Riki McLachlan are ranked #46 on the doubles court ... The Waves are 29-18 all-time vs. Cal.

RANKINGS - New team, singles and doubles rankings will be released around noon on Tuesday, March 12 ... The Waves are currently ranked #12 in the team rankings, and have reached as high as #5 ... Sebastian Fanselow is currently ranked #7 in singles after reaching as high as #4 ... Alex Sarkissian entered the rankings on Feb. 12 at #89 and has since moved up to #73 ... Finn Tearney made his first rankings appearance of 2013 at #105 and is up to #83 .... Francis Alcantara broke into the rankings on Feb. 26 at #87 ... Tearney and Alcantara also broke into the doubles rankings on Feb. 26 at #27 ... For complete ITA team, singles and doubles rankings, click here.

TOP FIVE - The Waves were awarded with a #5 ITA team ranking on Feb. 5. It was the first time Pepperdine has earned top-five status since the 2006 season, when they spent the majority of the season in the top-five, won the NCAA Championship and concluded the year at #1. Although the Waves reached the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA Championship, they were ranked #6 in the final ITA poll.

THE LINEUP - Finn Tearney and Francis Alcantara have been holding down the No. 1 doubles spot, followed by Sebastian Fanselow and Alex Sarkissian and No. 2 ... Mousheg Hovhannisyan has teamed up mostly with David Sofaer at No. 3 ... In singles Fanselow, Sarkissian and Tearney play at the top of the lineup, followed by Alcantara, Hovhannisyan and Sofaer ... Kento Tanaka-Tamaki has also made his way into the doubles and singles rotation.

SOCIAL MEDIA - Fans can follow the Waves on Twitter @PeppTennis or @PepperdineWaves and “like” us on Facebook by searching for Pepperdine Athletics.

WCC PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Sebastian Fanselow was the West Coast Conference singles player of the month for November, after his run at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship ... Mousheg Hovhannisyan and David Sofaer were awarded January Doubles Team of the Month honors after opening the season with back-to-back victories.

NATIONAL INDOOR RECAP - Sebastian Fanselow, who did not compete for the majority of the fall season, made his return to the court at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship in Flushing, N.Y. in November ... After defeating two top-10 ranked opponents in straight sets, Fanselow was pitted against #8-ranked and top seeded Alex Domijan in the semifinals ... After splitting the first two sets, the duo fought all the way to a 6-6 tie in the third ... Fanselow held serve and proceed to break Domijan’s serve at love to secure the match 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Fanselow later fell to Domijan’s teammate, Jamere Jenkins, in the finals but not before he was named the USTA/ITA Sportsmanship Award recipient.

Adam Steinberg - Now in his 11th season as head coach of the Waves, Adam Steinberg boasts career record of 285-151 including a 155-72 mark at Pepperdine. Since setting foot on the Malibu campus in 2003, Steinberg has captured six WCC conference championships, six appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and an NCAA Championship crown in 2006. He has tutored 16 Waves to All-American status, and has been named WCC Coach of the Year six times. Prior to coming to Pepperdine, Steinberg served as the head coach at Alabama and St. John’s for five seasons apiece.

2012 MEN’S DUAL RECAP - The Waves finished the 2012 season with a 27-7 record and concluded the season ranked #6 in the Campbell’s/ITA Collegiate Rankings. The men’s squad won a program-record 24 dual matches in a row and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament after upsetting Georgia 4-3 in the quarterfinals. The previous win-streak record was held by the 1985 team that strung together 20 wins, finishing the season 30-7 and ranked #6 in the country.

2012 AWARDS RECAP - Sebastian Fanselow was named the Pepperdine Athletics Male Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Daniel Moss was voted Wave of the Year. Fanselow was also named WCC Player of the Year. Fanselow and Finn Tearney made the All-WCC singles first team roster, while Alex Llompart was a second team honoree. In doubles, the duos of Tearney/Llompart and Jenson Turner/Fanselow were voted to the All-WCC first team, and David Sofaer/Hugh Clarke picked up on an honorable mention. Sofaer earned WCC All-Academic team recognition. Adam Steinberg was recognized as the WCC Co-Coach of the Year. On Monday, the ITA released its regional awards winners. Steinberg was named Southwest Coach of the Year. Fanselow was dubbed the Player to Watch in the Southwest region and later recognized as the national award winner. He also picked up All-American accolades in singles for the second-straight year.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men’s sports - one of just 16 schools to have accomplished this feat - and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest enrollment and is the only school not in a major conference. Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation’s most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #54 overall on U.S. News and World Report’s list of America’s best colleges.