No. 23 Pepperdine men’s tennis will begin its spring dual match season on Sunday, hosting Florida Atlantic at noon at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu.
The Waves start the season ranked No. 23 nationally, making them the second-highest ranked mid-major program after No. 10 Columbia. In the Preseason West Coast Conference (WCC) Poll, Pepperdine was picked to finish second. Four team members—Maxi Homberg, Edward Winter, Lasse Poertner, and Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida—were named to the All-WCC Preseason Team.
Three Waves are ranked inside the top-100 of the ITA singles rankings: Aleksa Pisaric at No. 61, Photos Photiades at No. 81, and Edward Winter at No. 88. Two doubles teams also received national recognition: Ribeiro de Almeida and David Fix are ranked No. 51; Poertner and Pisaric are ranked No. 53.
Edward Winter recently qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships in November and competed in Australian Open qualifying rounds. Last season, Winter and Maxi Homberg were First Team All-WCC selections in singles; Poertner made Second Team honors. Edward and Hugh Winter return as last year’s First Team All-WCC doubles honorees.
Florida Atlantic enters Sunday’s match with a 1-1 record after a loss to UC Santa Barbara and a win over North Florida. The Owls finished their previous season with an 11-9 record before falling to Memphis in the AAC semifinals.
Pepperdine and Florida Atlantic have played only once before; Pepperdine won that meeting 5-1 in Tampa on March 26, 2016.
Last year, Pepperdine posted a 17-11 overall record and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years.
After this weekend’s match, Pepperdine will travel to Tucson for ITA Kickoff Weekend, facing No. 22 Florida State on January 24 and then either No. 11 Arizona or LSU on January 25.
Pepperdine men’s tennis has a history that includes an NCAA Championship in 2006 and NAIA Championship in 1952. The program boasts one NCAA singles title from Robbie Weiss (1988), two NCAA doubles championships (1984, 1985), forty-four WCC titles, forty NCAA Tournament appearances, six NCAA Regionals, and fifty-three All-Americans.
“To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine men’s tennis news, follow the Waves on social media: @PepperdineMTEN.”
