Pepperdine women’s tennis, ranked No. 6 nationally, earned a 4-1 home victory against No. 15 California on March 15 at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu.
The win marks the Waves’ eighth consecutive triumph and their second over Cal this season. Pepperdine now holds an 8-1 record against ranked opponents and is 6-1 versus teams in the top-15.
Duru Söke clinched the match for Pepperdine with a singles win, joining Alexia Harmon and Živa Falkner as singles victors. In doubles play, Söke paired with Shihomi Leong to secure the doubles point in a tiebreak after Anastasiia Grechkina and Chantal Sauvant won their match. Head coach Tassilo Schmid said after the match, “This was a great week for our program. Beating both Ohio State and Cal in one week is not easy. I give credit to our girls as they have made a big jump in trusting each other and competing for every point. We did a really good job staying calm in big moments today and focusing on our execution. Back to work for us tomorrow.”
Grechkina and Sauvant improved their doubles record to 7-1 this season with their win on court two, while Söke and Leong moved to 6-2 after winning their tiebreaker on court three. The Waves had lost the doubles point to Cal the previous week but reversed that outcome this time.
In singles action, Harmon secured an early lead for Pepperdine when her opponent retired after losing the first set. Cal responded by winning at No. 2 singles before Falkner defeated Berta Passola Folch at No. 1 singles, giving Pepperdine a two-point advantage. Minutes later, Söke’s victory sealed the overall team win.
Pepperdine has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 27-4 over its last six matches, dropping only three singles matches during that span.
Looking ahead, Pepperdine will host No. 14 NC State at home on Thursday at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
