Pepperdine Team Page
MALIBU, Calif. – The #11 Pepperdine men’s tennis team hosted two matches today at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center and emerged victorious in both contests. The Waves first opened the West Coast Conference season with a 4-3 win over Loyola Marymount before downing #43 Princeton, 5-2.
With the two victories, Pepperdine improves to 13-4 overall and 1-0 in WCC action.
The Waves stumbled in doubles versus the Lions and dropped the No.1 and No. 3 matches to fall behind early. Despite the team setback, David Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia/Sydney Distance Education HS) and Mousheg Hovhannisyan (North Hollywood, Calif./Continental Academy) delivered a strong performance, defeating Nicholas Bjerke and Cristobal Rivera 8-1 to avoid the sweep.
Pepperdine got the job done in singles, cruising to straight-set wins from the top four spots in the lineup. Alex Sarkissian (Glendale, Calif./Glendale CC) delivered perhaps the strongest performance and topped Bjerke 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 2 match.
The home win vs. the Lions gives the Waves a point in the PCH Cup Standings. LMU leads the overall score 10-8.5.
With a few tweaks to the lineup, double went much better for the Waves in the second match of the doubleheader against Princeton. Francis Alcantara (Cagayan de Oro, Philippines/Fresno State) and Sarkissian disposed of Matt Spindler and Dan Davies 8-1, while Sofaer and Hovhannisyan clinched the point with an 8-2 triumph versus Augie Bloom and Matt Siow.
Seniors Sebastian Fanselow (Essen, Germany/Kaplan College Prep) and Finn Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) teamed up to face #32-ranked Matija Pecotic and Zack McCourt. The Waves earned their first break of the match to go up 5-4 when action was suspended.
The Waves kept the energy up in singles to win their second dual of the day.
Sarkissian was the first off the court, downing McCourt 6-4, 6-4. Sarkissian was down 0-3 in the second before bouncing back to secure the match in two sets.
Alcantara and Sofaer both won in straight sets to put points three and four on the board for the home team.
Hovhannisyan continued with the winning trend, grinding out a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 triumph over Dan Richardson.
In the marquee match, Tearney, ranked #83 in singles, faced off with #4-ranked Pecotic. After narrowly falling in the first set 6-4, Tearney shut out the Tigers’ ace in the second frame. Tied at 4-4 in the deciding set, Pecotic proved worthy of his premier ranking and held Tearney off 6-4.
A showdown with #10 Oklahoma is on deck for Pepperdine. The Waves and Sooners square off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 23. Live scores can be followed here.
Loyola Marymount vs Pepperdine
Mar 20, 2013 at Malibu, Calif.
(Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
#11 Pepperdine 4, Loyola Marymount 3
Singles
1. #83 Finn Tearney (PEP) def. Othar Kordsachia (LMU) 6-3, 6-1
2. #107 Alex Sarkissian (PEP) def. Nicholas Bjerke (LMU) 6-0, 6-2
3. #53 Francis Alcantara (PEP) def. Sebastian Bustamante (LMU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Cristobal Rivera (LMU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Felix Van Kann (LMU) def. David Sofaer (PEP) 5-7, 4-1, retired
6. Daniel Simko (LMU) def. Damian Gryzelko (PEP) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. Othar Kordsachia/Felix Van Kann (LMU) def. #47 Finn Tearney/Francis Alcantara (PEP) 8-3
2. Mousheg Hovhannisyan/David Sofaer (PEP) def. Nicholas Bjerke/Cristobal Rivera (LMU) 8-1
3. Jack Zapala/Daniel Simko (LMU) def. Alex Sarkissian/Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (PEP) 8-3
Match Notes:
Loyola Marymount 2-11, 0-1 WCC
Pepperdine 12-4, 1-0 WCC; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,6,4,3,1,5)
Princeton vs Pepperdine
Mar 20, 2013 at Malibu, Calif.
(Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
#11 Pepperdine 5, #43 Princeton 2
Singles
1. #4 Pecotic, Matija (PRIN) def. #83 Finn Tearney (PEP) 6-4, 0-6, 6-4
2. #107 Alex Sarkissian (PEP) def. McCourt, Zack (PRIN) 6-4, 6-4
3. #53 Francis Alcantara (PEP) def. Spindler, Matt (PRIN) 6-4, 6-4
4. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Richardson, Dan (PRIN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
5. David Sofaer (PEP) def. Siow, Matt (PRIN) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
6. Carcione, Jonathan (PRIN) def. Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (PEP) 7-6 (7-2), 6-1
Doubles
1. Finn Tearney/Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) vs. #32 Pecotic, Matija/McCourt, Zack (PRIN) 5-4, unfinished
2. Alex Sarkissian/Francis Alcantara (PEP) def. Spindler, Matt/Davies, Dan (PRIN) 8-1
3. David Sofaer/Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Bloom, Augie/Siow, Matt (PRIN) 8-2
Match Notes:
Princeton 10-4; National ranking #43
Pepperdine 13-4; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,3,6,5,4,1)
