Pepperdine University’s men’s tennis team has released its schedule for the 2026 spring dual match season. Director of Tennis Adam Schaechterle announced that the Waves will play nine home matches at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
The 2026 schedule features ten opponents that participated in last season’s NCAA Tournament, including three teams that reached the final site, and 15 programs ranked in the final 2025 Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Last year, Pepperdine faced 16 postseason teams and secured six wins against Power-4 conference opponents.
“We have the toughest non-conference schedule in the country and bring some tremendous programs to Malibu,” Schaechterle said. “We’re excited to see how our group develops and we can’t wait for the spring.”
Pepperdine opens its season on January 18 at home against Florida Atlantic University. The team then travels to Tucson, Arizona, for ITA Kickoff Weekend from January 24-25, where they face Florida State and will compete against either LSU or Arizona depending on results. Success at this event would send them to Texas for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships scheduled for February 13-16.
Following this, Pepperdine returns to Malibu for a five-match homestand with games against Arizona (January 30), Arizona State (February 1), South Florida (February 3), Stanford (February 6), and UCLA (February 7).
During spring break, the Waves embark on a five-match road trip across five states. They play Columbia on February 27 before heading north to Harvard (March 1). The trip continues with matches at Yale (March 4) and Princeton (March 6) before concluding at Middle Tennessee State on March 8.
For the third time in four years, Pepperdine will participate in the UTR Collegiate Championships held during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells from March 13-15. At this tournament, they are set to face two of Baylor, Arizona State or Memphis.
West Coast Conference play begins with away matches at Pacific and Saint Mary’s on March 27-28. The Waves host a doubleheader against Gonzaga and Portland on April 5, followed by Santa Clara on April 9 for Senior Day. The regular season concludes with road matches at San Diego (April 12) and LMU (April 18).
The West Coast Conference Championships will be hosted by Pacific at Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center in Stockton from April 23-25.
In the previous season, Pepperdine achieved a record of 17-11, including two home victories over top-10 teams. They advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years. Six players from last year’s roster are set to return for the upcoming season.
Pepperdine men’s tennis has a history marked by an NCAA Championship win in 2006 as well as multiple national titles dating back to its first NAIA Championship in 1952. The program has seen success with singles and doubles national championships and holds a record of winning their conference title forty-four times along with making forty NCAA Tournament appearances.
