Pepperdine University’s women’s tennis team, ranked No. 15 nationally, lost a close match to Arizona State University on Sunday at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu. The final score was 4-3 in favor of Arizona State, with the deciding point coming from an 11-9 tiebreak victory on court six after the teams were tied at three matches each.
Pepperdine started strong by winning the doubles point. Shihomi Leong and Duru Söke secured a 6-2 win at the No. 3 position, and Chantal Sauvant and Alexia Harmon clinched the point with another 6-2 win at flight two. Sonja Zhiyenbayeva and Živa Falkner’s match went unfinished but they were leading 5-3.
In singles play, Duru Söke defeated Karsyn Evans convincingly (6-1, 6-1) on court five to give Pepperdine a 2-0 lead. After dropping a match on court three, Pepperdine extended its advantage to 3-1 when Sonja Zhiyenbayeva won her match in straight sets (6-4, 7-6 [8-6]) on court two.
However, Arizona State rallied back by winning all three remaining singles matches that went to decisive third sets. On court one, Emilija Tverijonaite overcame Živa Falkner after losing the first set, ultimately winning in three sets (5-7, 7-5, 6-3). Lily Taylor edged out Alexia Harmon in another close contest on court four (4-6, 6-4, 7-5).
The final and deciding match took place on court six where Sarang Lim of Arizona State defeated Shihomi Leong in a tight battle (4-6, 6-3, 7-6 [11-9]), securing the road victory for the Sun Devils.
“The girls fought hard today but credit to ASU as they managed to swing three tight matches in their favor and earned the win,” said head coach Tassilo Schmid. “We’ll take the lessons from this one, regroup, and be ready to take a step forward on Friday against UCLA.”
Pepperdine will next host No. 19 UCLA at home on Friday afternoon.
Pepperdine women’s tennis has appeared in every NCAA Tournament since its inception except for two years since 1982 and has claimed numerous conference championships during that span. The program has produced several All-Americans and sent players onto professional careers following their time at Pepperdine.
For updates about Pepperdine women’s tennis, fans can follow @PepperdineWTEN on social media.
