Another Top-10 Team Falls to Pepperdine: Waves Beat Texas A&M, 4-3 - Pepperdine University Official Athletic Site

Another Top-10 Team Falls to Pepperdine: Waves Beat Texas A&M, 4-3

Pepperdine downs another top-10 ranked opponent to improve to 14-3

Junior Alex Llompart (pictured) teamed with Finn Tearney to clinch the doubles point, and went on to win in singles as well.

March 19, 2011

Complete Results

MALIBU, Calif. – The #11 Pepperdine men’s tennis team defeated its second top-10 ranked opponent in as many weeks after a thrilling 4-3 win over #7 Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon. Mousheg Hovhannisyan scored the clinching point for the Waves, while Finn Tearney and Alex Llompart knocked off a top-five ranked doubles team.

Pepperdine improved to 14-3 on the season, while the Aggies drop to 15-4.

The Aggies struck first, winning on the No. 3 doubles court. Sebastian Fanselow (Essen, Germany) and Jenson Turner (Woodland Hill, Calif./Campbell Hall HS) remained unstoppable, and evened the score after defeating #63-ranked Junior Ore and Alexey Grigorov on court two. The Pepperdine tandem is now a perfect 13-0 in dual play this season.

The doubles point all came down to the No. 1 match that featured Finn Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand) and Alex Llompart (Carolina, Puerto Rico) and #2-ranked Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo. After playing 16 games with no victor determined, the pairs faced off in a tiebreaker to determine the winner – and effectively the doubles point.

After falling behind 0-2, Tearney and Llompart strung together a 6-0 run to take the lead. After Texas A&M scored a point, Llompart dished a serve that was returned out of bounds to win the match. The Pepperdine pair is now 2-0 when playing ranked opponents and 6-1 overall this season.

The Aggies once again struck first in singles, taking a 2-1 lead after winning on courts one and two.

Llompart evened the score with a tremendous three-set triumph over Alexey Grigorov.

With three matches still undetermined, the dual was anybodies for the taking. Freshman David Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia) came back from a 6-3 first set loss to defeat Niall Angus 7-5, 6-3.

The two remaining matches --- Hovhannisyan (North Hollywood, Calif./Continental Academy) vs. Alberto Bautista on court five and Alfredo Moreno (Queretaro, Mexico) vs. Alexis Klegou on court four – were both in the middle of their third sets.

Hovhannisyan and Bautista both claimed a set in the tiebreaker, but the closely fought match began to swing in the Waves’ favor as Hovhannisyan won 6-2 in the third to put the fourth and dual-clinching point on the board.

Moreno’s match came down to the wire, as yet another tiebreaker determined the winner. Bautista edged Moreno 10-8 to give Texas A&M its third and final point of the day.

Pepperdine is 2-1 against opponents with a top-10 ranking this season. In addition to the Aggies, the Waves also beat then-#4 Duke. Their only loss came to #2 USC on the road.

Another top-10 rival awaits the Waves on Monday as they host #4 Ohio State (15-2) at 1 p.m. on the courts of the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. Live scoring updates will be available at www.PepperdineSports.com.

#11 Pepperdine 4, #7 Texas A&M 3
Singles competition
1. #23 Austin Krajicek (TAM) def. #49 Finn Tearney (PEP) 6-3, 6-2
2. #62 Jeff Dadamo (TAM) def. #17 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) 6-3, 6-4
3. #66 Alex Llompart (PEP) def. Alexey Grigorov (TAM) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
4. #100 Alexis Klegou (TAM) def. Alfredo Moreno (PEP) 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (10-8)
5. Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Alberto Bautista (TAM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2
6. David Sofaer (PEP) def. Niall Angus (TAM) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Alex Llompart/Finn Tearney (PEP) def. #2 Austin Krajicek/Jeff Dadamo (TAM) 9-8 (7-3)
2. Sebastian Fanselow/Jenson Turner (PEP) def. #63 Junior Ore/Alexey Grigorov (TAM) 8-4
3. #53 Colin Hoover/Alberto Bautista (TAM) def. Alfredo Moreno/Hugh Clarke (PEP) 8-4

Match Notes:
Texas A&M 15-4; National ranking #7
Pepperdine 14-3; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,1,3,6,5,4)

Head Coach Adam Steinberg

2011-12 Season

Pepperdine Points

Tennis Links