Men’s tennis prepares for Pepperdine match following narrow USC victory
Redshirt sophomore Connor Rapp has won four doubles matches so far this season for UCLA men’s tennis. His only singles victory came against Grand Canyon in February. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
By Jared Tay
April 8, 2019 11:55 p.m.
The Bruins have a chance to continue their winning streak in midweek play.
No. 13 UCLA men’s tennis (11-4, 4-0 Pac-12) will host Pepperdine (9-9, 3-2 West Coast Conference) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Tuesday. The match against the Waves will come as a breather between the Bruins’ Pac-12 matchups against USC on Friday and Oregon and Washington this Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Redshirt sophomore Connor Rapp said the team will need to rely on the positive momentum of the Bruins’ seven-game winning streak that began against Grand Canyon in February.
“You definitely need to ride the wave,” Rapp said. “A huge part of college tennis is confidence and getting hot at the right time. (Right now), we’re really doing a good job of that we’re coming to form at the best time.”
The Bruins’ most recent victory came against their crosstown rival USC Trojans. In a match that lasted almost three and a half hours, UCLA edged a 4-3 win over USC to claim first place in the Pac-12 standings.
“(Senior Maxime Cressy) and I talked to all the guys and told them to keep the energy going,” said sophomore Bryce Pereira. (The team needs to) cherish those moments and use the feeling from Friday as fuel for the rest of the season.”
Freshman Patrick Zahraj decided the match with a three-set win over USC’s Riley Smith to seal the victory for the Bruins.
Sophomore Keegan Smith led chants from the sidelines to spur on his team as fans congregated around the backcourts. Smith said it was important for him to be present, even after his own match had finished, to support the remaining players who fought for the win.
“I just want to leave tennis better (than how I found it),” Smith said. “Hopefully people see that, and say ‘Wow, I want to play tennis.’ For the team, you just always have to be supportive and show love.”
UCLA faced Pepperdine last year in the Bruins’ third dual match of the season. Pepperdine was defeated by UCLA 7-0. Then-senior Logan Staggs posted the clinching win, triumphing over the Waves’ Dane Esses by a score of 6-3, 6-2.
In the 2013-2014 season, UCLA and Pepperdine met twice. The first meeting was part of the ITA Division I National Men’s Team Indoor Championship, held in Houston that season.
Pepperdine was not originally scheduled to meet UCLA in the first round of the tournament but did so as a late replacement for Duke, which was unable to travel to Houston. The Bruins dispatched the Waves by a score of 4-0 and moved to the next round of the tournament.
The second meeting between the teams came a week later, where the Bruins won again by a score of 4-0.
Pepperdine’s coach, Adam Schaechterle, is in his first season as the Waves’ head coach. Schaechterle was previously the assistant coach for Notre Dame men’s tennis.
“He’s a nice young man who’s doing a great job, and did a great job (at Notre Dame) with their program,” said coach Billy Martin. “(Pepperdine this year) has been struggling a bit, and they’re not the best team they’ve had through the years.”
The Waves have posted a 9-9 record overall and a 3-2 record in the WCC this season. Their last three matches have come against St. Mary’s, Gonzaga and Portland. Aside from a 4-3 loss to Gonzaga, Pepperdine posted 4-1 wins over the other two opponents.
The match Tuesday is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
“We’ve had some unbelievable battles with Pepperdine in the past, and I’ll be expecting nothing less tomorrow,” Martin said. “We need to get our competitive juices going again, (and keep) working hard and improving.”
