SAN DIEGO - After waiting through a mid-match rain delay for over two hours, No. 1 seed Pepperdine defeated No. 2 San Diego in the championship match of the West Coast Conference Women's Tennis Tournament at the Aztec Tennis Complex on the San Diego State campus.
Pepperdine has now won every WCC Tournament since 2013.
It was a tight battle for the doubles point. Pepperdine picked up a quick win on the third court with Duru Soke and Vivian Yang winning, 6-1. On the No. 1 court, despite a big comeback by the Waves, USD's tandem of Claudia de las Heras and Kailey Evans garnered a 6-4 win to even doubles play at 1-1. A back-and-forth match on No. 2 doubles decided the tiebreaker point, Pepperdine's Liam Oved and Sebastianna Scilipoti came back after trailing, 5-4, to win 7-5 and hand the Waves the pivotal doubles point.
In singles, the Waves went up 3-0 starting with straight set wins by Soke on court five, 6-0, 6-3, followed by another straight set victory by Alexia Harmon on court three, 6-0, 6-4. USD's Hannah Read got one back for the Toreros on court four, winning 6-3, 6-2 before de las Heras made it 3-2 with a three-set win, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.
It came down to courts two and six, both going to three sets before rain fell in San Diego When play resumed for the final two courts, the match was clinched in the second court with Anastasiia Grechkina defeating Kailey Evans, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
With the win, the will Waves will receive the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will air on Monday at 2 p.m.
WCC Women's Tennis Tournament Championship
Doubles
1. De las Heras/Evans (USD) def Grechkina/Harmon (PEPP) 6-4
2. Scilipoti/Oved (PEPP) def Nordikyan/Read (USD) 7-5
3. Soke/Yang (PEPP) def Gregg/Puls (USD) 6-1
Singles
1. De las Heras (USD) def Yang (PEPP) 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
2. Grechkina (PEPP) def Evans (USD) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Harmon (PEPP) def Nordikyan (USD) 6-0, 6-4
4. Read (USD) def. Scilipoti (PEPP) 6-3, 6-2
5. Soke (PEPP) def. Puls (USD) 6-0, 6-3
6. Gregg (USD) vs. Oved (PEPP) unfinished