OJAI, Calif. – Portland grabbed the doubles point, but the No. 22-ranked Pepperdine Waves controlled singles play and pulled out a 4-1 win in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Men's Tennis Championships Friday afternoon at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club. The Pilots finish the season 11-10 overall, while the Waves (17-6) advance to face top-seeded San Diego in Saturday's title match.
Portland secured the doubles point with comfortable wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Pepperdine took No. 1 doubles, but Issa Yoshida and Nicklas Oberg evened it with a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles. Shortly thereafter, Nicolas Ocana and Nikolas Tvedt clinched with a 6-2 win to give the Pilots the 1-0 lead.
Pepperdine regained the momentum by taking the first set in all six singles matches. Pilot freshman Oscar Brown bounced back to force a third set at No. 6 singles against Eero Vasa, but the Waves advanced with straight set wins at the No. 2 through No. 5 positions.
"We have had an amazing second half of the season," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Since losing our first two conference matches we have only lost twice, both to Pepperdine. We have had some incredible matches, including many that came down to the wire. We snatched the doubles today which isn't totally unexpected because we play great doubles, but I just think we were out of gas from this seven-week period that has been really intense. All credit to Pepperdine, they are a very good team. I think right now our guys are probably focusing on the opportunity when we have them at our place next spring, which really speaks to the competitiveness of our group. Always disappointing to not get the victory, but our guys have been warriors and will be back."
The Pilots will bring back an experienced team next season with all six players in the singles lineup slated to return.
#22 Pepperdine 4, #74 Portland 1
Ojai, Calif. (Ojai Valley Athletic Club)
April 29, 2022
Singles
1. #23 Daniel De Jonge (PEP) vs. Sema Pankin (POR) 6-4, 5-2, unfinished
2. #62 Tim Zeitvogel (PEP) def. Eleftherios Neos (POR) 6-4, 6-2
3. #96 Andrew Rogers (PEP) def. Nicolas Ocana (POR) 6-2, 6-3
4. Enrique Luque Rico (PEP) def. Issa Yoshida (POR) 6-3, 6-3
5. Corrado Summaria (PEP) def. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) 6-0, 6-1
6. Eero Vasa (PEP) vs. Oscar Brown (POR) 6-2, 3-6, 3-2, unfinished
Doubles
1. Vasa/De Jonge (PEP) def. #32 Pankin/Neos (POR) 6-2
2. Ocana/Tvedt (POR) def. Rogers/Summaria (PEP) 6-2
3. Nicklas Oberg/Yoshida (POR) def. Zeitvogel/Rico (PEP) 6-1
Match Notes:
Portland 11-10; National ranking #74
Pepperdine 17-6; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,3,4,2)
