SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Pepperdine men’s tennis team won the doubles point against San Diego, yet the Toreros won the West Coast Conference Tournament title with four straight-set singles wins on Saturday afternoon.
Shortly after noon, the #18 Toreros (22-3, 7-1 WCC) effectively won the match in a 10-minute window, in which they won matches on courts one, two and five, plus a pivotal breakpoint on court four where Savriyan Danilov went on to clinch the match. At the time, the #39 Waves (14-11, 7-1 WCC) were up on court six and needed to force a third set on court three.
Monday’s NCAA selection show will determine the Waves’ fate. The tournament draw will be announced at 3 pm PT on NCAA.com.
At first, the 2024 championship showed shades of last year’s match between the two teams, as the Waves landed the first blow with an emotional doubles win. While the Toreros took the match on court one, Pepperdine’s duo of Edward Winter and Peter Fellin went up a break and consolidated the break for a 3-0 lead the pair wouldn’t relinquish. Winter and Fellin got out of trouble in the seventh game and fended off break point to lead 5-2, then the match was played on serve from that point forward as Pepperdine won 6-3.
This set the stage for Maxi Homberg and Chris Papa on court two, who were tasked with clinching the doubles point against a USD team featuring a top-10 singles player in Oliver Tarvet and Stian Klaassen. But Pepperdine would have to play from behind. USD won the first break point opportunity in the third game and consolidated the break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead.
Yet Homberg answered the call, first by holding serve in the fifth game and then by forcing break point in the sixth game. On Tarvet’s second serve to Homberg, the Pepperdine sophomore hit a series of three forehands on the ad side. Homberg’s fourth forehand finished the job. With both Toreros at the net, Homberg rocketed his fourth forehand between the two USD players and inside the lines to break the Toreros and put the match back on serve.
With Papa behind the service line, Pepperdine would consolidate the break and both teams went on to play on serve until the tenth game, when the Waves won four of the six points to break the Toreros for the match in their 6-4 win.
Unfortunately for Pepperdine, the Toreros went on to flip the script quickly into singles play. The top of USD’s lineup went up quickly. Aside from Robert Shelton At the sixth position, San Diego won five of the six first sets, putting pressure on the Waves to force third sets to defend their title. Pepperdine had a chance to turn the match with the back half of the lineup, as Shelton, george Davis and Linus Carlsson Halldin put together a solid 15-minute stretch of their second sets to take momentary leads.
Right around noon, USD evened the score with Iiro Vasa’s straight-set win on court two, turning the match towards the top-seeded Toreros. They went up 2-1 with Klaassen’s victory on court five, then took a 3-1 lead with #6 Tarvet’s win at first position. Danilov went on to clinch the conference title for USD with his straight-set win on court four.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #6 Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. #48 Edward Winter (PEPP), 6-1, 6-2
2. #85 Iiro Vasa (USD) def. #122 Pietro Fellin (PEPP), 6-1, 6-3
3. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) vs. Lambert Ruland (USD), 3-6, 5-4, unfinished
4. Savriyan Danilov (USD) def. Zach Stephens (PEPP), 6-3, 6-3
5. Stian Klaassen (USD) def. George Davis (PEPP), 6-4, 6-3
6. Robert Shelton (PEPP) vs. Sacchitt Sharrma (USD), 6-3, 5-6, unfinished
Order of finish: 2,5,4*
Doubles
1. Sacchitt Sharrma/Iiro Vasa (USD) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin/George Davis6-3
2. Maxi Homberg/Chris Papa def. Oliver Tarvet/Stian Klaassen, 6-4
3. Pietro Fellin/Edward Winter def. Savriyan Danilov/Lambert Ruland, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,3,2
