College Tennis News - Waves Blank Gauchos, Move on to Second Round of NCAA Tournament

Pepperdine to face LSU in round two on Saturday at 1 p.m.

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's tennis team got the 2013 NCAA Tournament started on the courts of the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center this afternoon with a convincing 4-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara. The Waves, ranked #12, face #20 LSU in the second round, scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Pepperdine opened the day with a solid doubles performance. Finn Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) and Alex Sarkissian (Glendale, Calif./Glendale CC), the reigning West Coast Conference doubles team of the month, disposed of Benjamin Recknagel and Axel Bouillin 8-2.

David Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia/Sydney Distance Education HS) and Mousheg Hovhannisyan (North Hollywood, Calif./Continental Academy) secured the doubles point for Pepperdine with an 8-5 win against Andrew Riminton and Miles Seeman.

Sebastian Fanselow (Essen, Germany/Kaplan College Prep) and Francis Alcantara (Cagayan de Oro, Philippines/Fresno State) were up 7-3 when action was suspended.

The Waves took full control of the dual in singles, winning the first sets on all six courts.

Fanselow was the first to finish, shutting out Mbonisi Ndimande 6-0, 6-0. Alcantara finished soon after, defeating Ziad Sultan 6-1, 6-3 on court three.

With three matches nearing their conclusions, it was a race to see who would finish first. Tearney wound up winning the dual-clinching point and topped Bouillin 6-4, 6-0.

Pepperdine faces #20 LSU at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 11 at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. Live scores can be followed here. The Tigers reached the second round after topping #40 Stanford 4-2 in the first match of the day in Malibu.

UC Santa Barbara vs Pepperdine

May 10, 2013 at Malibu, Calif.

(Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)

#12 Pepperdine 4, UC Santa Barbara 0

Singles

1. #11 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) def. Mbonisi Ndimande (UCSB) 6-0, 6-0

2. #62 Alex Sarkissian (PEP) vs. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) 6-3, 4-1, unfinished

3. #107 Finn Tearney (PEP) def. Axel Bouillin (UCSB) 6-4, 6-0

4. #102 Francis Alcantara (PEP) def. Ziad Sultan (UCSB) 6-1, 6-3

5. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) vs. Alexander Gryaznov (UCSB) 6-0, 3-3, unfinished

6. David Sofaer (PEP) vs. Jacob Johnson (UCSB) 6-1, 5-0, unfinished

Doubles

1. Sebastian Fanselow/Francis Alcantara (PEP) vs. Mbonisi Ndimande/Ziad Sultan (UCSB) 7-3, unfinished

2. Finn Tearney/Alex Sarkissian (PEP) def. Benjamin Recknagel/Axel Bouillin (UCSB) 8-2

3. Mousheg Hovhannisyan/David Sofaer (PEP) def. Andrew Riminton/Miles Seeman (UCSB) 8-5

Match Notes:

UC Santa Barbara 12-14

Pepperdine 25-5; National ranking #12

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,4,3)