No. 10 Pepperdine women’s tennis will begin a demanding series of five road matches over six days, starting with three West Coast Conference (WCC) contests and visits to nationally ranked opponents.
The Waves open conference play on Tuesday at Washington State, followed by a Wednesday match at Gonzaga. On Friday, they travel to No. 21 Stanford before facing Santa Clara on Saturday and concluding the trip Sunday at No. 7 Cal in Berkeley.
Pepperdine recently secured a 4-0 win over No. 6 USC, marking its third victory this season against teams ranked in the top 12 of the ITA team rankings. Following this result, Pepperdine moved into the top ten for the first time this year, now sitting at No. 10.
The team also swept WCC weekly awards for the third time this season after their latest win. Alexia Harmon received her first WCC Singles Player of the Week award after winning both her matches against UCLA and USC and currently holds a 4-2 record in dual matches while alternating between fourth and fifth singles positions.
Duru Söke and Shihomi Leong earned their first WCC Doubles Team of the Week honors after going undefeated last week; they are now 3-1 as a pair in doubles competition. Söke has also posted a perfect singles record so far this season.
Sonja Zhiyenbayeva was named WCC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time after improving to a 6-1 singles record. She leads Pepperdine in singles wins and has partnered with both Harmon and Živa Falkner to claim three doubles victories so far; Zhiyenbayeva and Falkner are currently ranked No. 48 in ITA doubles rankings.
Falkner has played all season at No. 1 singles for Pepperdine, holding an even overall record but posting two wins against nationally ranked players; she is listed as No. 57 in ITA singles rankings while Anastasiia Grechkina is currently ranked eighth for Pepperdine.
Grechkina and Chantal Sauvant have maintained an undefeated doubles record (4-0), with Sauvant adding two wins from the fourth singles spot as well.
Pepperdine aims to secure its twelfth consecutive WCC title along with its thirteenth straight regular-season conference crown this spring.
Historically, Pepperdine holds perfect records against upcoming conference opponents: 3-0 versus Washington State, 24-0 against Gonzaga, and 21-0 over Santa Clara. Against Cal, Pepperdine is historically behind but split their series last year; versus Stanford, they have won five out of seven recent meetings despite trailing overall.
After finishing their road stretch on March 8th, Pepperdine returns home March 11th to host second-ranked Ohio State at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
According to program information provided by Pepperdine University Athletics, women’s tennis has reached forty NCAA tournaments since its inception in 1982—including twenty-eight straight appearances—and boasts thirty-three conference championships alongside eleven consecutive titles in recent years. The program regularly advances athletes to professional tennis careers following collegiate competition.
