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More than a month after Pepperdine soundly defeated the USC men’s tennis team 5-2 in a thrilling match in Malibu, the Trojans welcomed the Waves to South Central for a chance at revenge, and that’s just what they got.
Friday, the Trojans, led by former Waves Coach Peter Smith, handed Pepperdine its fifth consecutive loss, and its fourth straight by a 4-3 margin.
In a match that was possibly even more emotionally charged than the first, Pepperdine jumped ahead in doubles, but couldn’t secure the three matches they needed in singles to get the victory.
“It was a similar scenario,” Pepperdine men’s tennis Head Coach Adam Steinberg said. “We did great in doubles, we’re playing really hard, get up singles, and then we let things slide. There’s just certain spots in the line up where we’re getting tight, and not believing in ourselves.
“We played very well at No. 1, 2 and 3, and 4, 5 and 6 cost us the match,” he continued.
In No. 1 doubles, juniors Calle Hansen and Diego Acuna continued their strong tandem play, defeating Daniel Langre and Ruben Torres 8-3. It was their third straight victory.
At No. 2 doubles, freshman duo Scott Doerner and Pedro Rico rolled by power hitters Prakash Amritraj and Parker Collins 8-4 to collect their fourth straight win.
In singles, two hard-fought victories at No. 2 and No. 3 by Rico and Acuna were for naught, as the Waves were unable to get wins in latter matches.
“In college tennis, it’s so hard to win all three of the top spots, so you need that help from No. 4 through No. 6. We just didn’t get wins in key spots,” Steinberg said.
After top-hitter Hansen lost a tough-match to Amritiraj 6-3, 7-5, Doerner, Alexis Rafidison and Partha Bhattacharya followed suit, opening the door for the one-point come from behind victory.
Doerner said the Waves worked hard this past week at practice in trying to get all team members on the same page in preparation for their weekend road matches against Duke and Georgia.
“We need to have six guys focusing at once,” Doerner said. “Until we get that we’re going to keep losing 4-3. But we’ve had a good week of practice, and we’re keying in on getting two wins this weekend.”
It will be a difficult task for the No. 28 Waves as they face two teams ranked in the nation’s top 20. But, said Steinberg, if his team is going to get back on track, they’d rather do it against stiff competition.
“The guys love playing this type of schedule, it brings out the best in them,” the head coach said. “If we’re going to get winning again, we want to do it against a top 20 school.
“We need to breakthrough versus a Duke or a Georgia, that would really give us confidence,” he continued.
With the war against Iraq looming in the hearts and minds of players, team members said it’s a matter of putting things into perspective.
“It reminds us that there is more to life than playing tennis,” Doerner said. “We’ve heard a few stories, heard about friends, brothers, going off to war … although it’s a really tough thing to take, we’re trying to focus on our tennis … it’s been hard, but we’re a pretty tight group and we just want to get a win any way we can.”
Submitted March 20, 2003
MALIBU, CA
