WAVE NINTH-INNING RALLY FALLS SHORT AGAINST PACIFIC

Pepperdine cut a 4-0 deficit to 4-3, but a diving catch by the Tigers ended the game

Pepperdine reliever Jeremy Farraye throws a pitch earlier this season. (Jeff Golden Photo)

BOX SCORE

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine baseball team rallied for three runs in the ninth, but fell a run short of sending the game to extras as the Waves dropped the series finale to Pacific 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the ninth, Pepperdine (14-16, 6-6) got an RBI single from Jordan Qsar and a two-run single from Mike Malinchak to cut the Pacific (12-18, 4-8) lead to one – but the Waves left the game-tying run stranded at first.

BIG WAVES

• Sophomore second baseman Quincy McAfee (Houston, Texas/Westside HS) went 2-for-3 with a double and run scored.
• Freshman Mike Malinchak (Delray Beach, Fla./American Heritage HS) came up clutch with a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning to cut the Pacific lead to one.
• Sophomore right-hander Michael Mahony (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison HS) entered the game with the bases and no outs in the eighth inning and got the Waves out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a lineout.

PLAY-BY-PLAY

Pacific got on the board first in the third inning as after leaving five on base in the first two innings, broke through with a two-run single by Kevin Sandri to take a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers score a run in the fifth and another in the sixth to take a 4-0 advantage.
Pepperdine didn’t get their first hit of the game until Quincy McAfee hit a double to center field in the fifth inning and had only two hits entering the ninth inning.
Chase Lambert got the ninth inning rally going by leading off with a walk and eventually advanced to second base on a groundout. With two outs, Qsar picked up his team-leading 33rd RBI with a single up the middle. McAfee followed with an infield single and the two eventually advanced to second and third.
That’s when Mike Malinchak – who entered the game in the ninth when Qsar moved from right field to the mound – came through with a two-run single to left-center field to cut the Pacific lead to 4-3. Unfortunately for the Waves, that’s as close as they got as Billy Cook drove a ball to right field – but Pacific’s Bradley Jekich made a diving catch near the line to end the game and keep the tying run from scoring.

UP NEXT

The Waves travel to take on Cal State Fullerton 6 p.m. Tuesday.

WAVES GET TWO WINS ON SUNDAY

Dane Esses (Photo by Sarah Otteman)
Recap courtesy of Pepperdine University

The Waves continue WCC Play next week at USD and BYU

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's tennis team picked up two wins at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Sunday against West Coast Conference opponent Gonzaga and UC Riverside. Each Wave that played singles got a match win.

The Waves (6-13, 2-3 WCC) dominated in both matches, sweeping both the Bulldogs (9-8, 2-5) and the Highlanders (14-14) 4-0.

RESULTS

Pepperdine 4, Gonzaga 0

SINGLES

1. Dennis Uspensky (PEPP) vs. Ruadhan O’Sullivan (GON) 3-6, 3-3, unfinished
2. Yusuf Khamis (PEPP) vs. Sam Feit (GON) 7-5, 2-3, unfinished
3. Dane Esses (PEPP) def. Vincent Rettke (GON) 6-1, 6-3
4. Brian Berdusco (PEPP) vs. Hunter Egger (GON) 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
5. Lautaro Pane (PEPP) def. Emilio Moreno (GON) 6-1, 6-2
6. Max Mendelsohn (PEPP) def. Kyle Everly (GON) 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish: 6, 3, 5*

DOUBLES

1. Lautaro Pane/Dane Esses (PEPP) vs. Sam Feit/Hunter Egger (GON) 6-5, unfinished
2. Max Mendelsohn/Brian Berdusco (PEPP) def. Vincent Rettke/Kyle Everly (GON) 7-6 (2)
3. 3. Dennis Uspensky/Yusuf Khamis (PEPP) Ruadhan O’Sullivan/Emilio Moreno (GON) 6-1

Order of Finish: 3, 2

Pepperdine 4, UC Riverside 0

SINGLES

1. Dennis Uspensky (PEPP) def. Pawel Jankowiak (UCR) 6-4, 6-1
2. Yusuf Khamis (PEPP) def. Benjamin Kilchherr (UCR) 6-4, 6-3
3. Dane Esses (PEPP) vs. Kyle McCann (UCR) 7-6 (7-2), 4-5, unfinished
4. Brian Berdusco (PEPP) def. Nabil Abdallah (UCR) 6-4, 6-3
5. Lautaro Pane (PEPP) vs. Filip Engstrom (UCR) 4-6, 6-1, 5-0, unfinished
6. Max Mendelsohn (PEPP) vs. Vignesh Subramanyan (UCR) 6-7 (5-7), 1-3, unfinished

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 4*

DOUBLES

1. Dane Esses/Lautaro Pane (PEPP) def. Vignesh Subramanyan/Pawel Jankowiak (UCR) 6-0
2. Brian Berdusco/Max Mendelsohn (PEPP) vs. Filip Engstrom/Kyle McCann (UCR) 4-5, unfinished
3. Dennis Uspensky/Yusuf Khamis (PEPP) def. Nabil Abdallah/Anderson Ju (UCR) 6-2

Order of Finish: 1, 3

MATCH RECAP

Pepperdine vs. Gonzaga

In doubles competition, Dennis Uspensky and Yusuf Khamis won their match handily, defeating O’Sullivan and Moreno 6-1. The other two matches were more exciting, as the match on three finished just seconds before the match on one might have finished. Max Mendelsohn and Brian Berdusco won their match in a tiebreak, defeating Rettke and Everly 7-6. Lautaro Pane and Dane Esses were up 40-0 in the final game of their match, but were forced to abandon the match after court three finished.

Singles play went the Waves way as well, as Pepperdine got wins on courts three, five and six to earn the sweep. Mendelsohn was the first to finish, taking his match on six 6-1, 6-0. He was quickly followed by Pane who won 6-1, 6-2. Esses finished the match for the Waves, taking his match 6-1, 6-3. Berdusco was up 5-2 in the second set after winning the first when the match was clinched. Khamis also won his first set, and was trailing 2-3 in the second, while Uspensky was tied in the second set after losing the first, 3-6.

Pepperdine vs. UC Riverside

The Waves took the momentum they gained in the first match of the day into their match against UC Riverside. In doubles, Esses and Pane dominated, taking their match against Subramanyan and Jankowiak 6-0. Uspensky and Mendelsohn followed suit, defeating Abdallah and Ju 6-2.

With the advantage of winning the doubles point, Pepperdine did not slow down. Uspensky made quick work of Jankowiak, winning 6-4, 6-1. Khamis defeated Kilchherr 6-4, 6-3. Berdusco clinched for the Waves, defeating Abdallah in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Esses was leading his match after taking the first set in a tiebreak, but was down 4-5 in the second set to McCann. Pane bounced back after losing the first set to take the second 6-0, and was leading 5-0 in the third and final set when the match was clinched. Mendeloshn lost his first set in a tiebreak, and was down 1-3 when the match was clinched by Berdusco.

UP NEXT

The Waves have two WCC matches next week when they travel to San Diego on Thursday and BYU on Saturday.

Pepperdine University MEN'S TENNIS DROPS CLOSE MATCH TO PORTLAND

Recap, photo courtesy of Pepperdine University

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's tennis team fought valiantly in a West Coast Conference match against Portland on Friday at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, though late momentum pushed the Pilots ahead 4-2.

The Waves (4-13, 1-3 WCC) fought back after losing the doubles point as both Dane Esses and Lautaro Pane collected the first pair of singles wins, but the Pilots (9-5, 3-2 WCC) took wins on courts one, four and six to close out the match.

RESULTS

SINGLES

1: Mike Pervolarakis (POR) def. Dennis Uspensky (PEPP) – 6-4, 6-2
2: Yusuf Khamis (PEPP) vs. Mathieu Garcia (POR) – 4-6, 6-4, 2-1 unfinished

3: Dane Esses (PEPP) def. Pierre Garcia (POR) – 6-2, 6-2

4: Carlos Donat (POR) def. Brian Berdusco (PEPP) – 6-4, 6-2

5: Lautaro Pane (PEPP) def. Alex Wallace (POR) – 6-4, 6-2

6: Tom Hann (POR) def. Max Mendelsohn (PEPP) – 6-3, 0-6, 7-5

DOUBLES

1: Dane Esses/Lautaro Pane (PEPP) vs. Mathieu Garcia/Pierre Garcia – 5-3 unfinished

2: Mike Pervolarakis/Tom Hann (POR) def. Brian Berdusco/Max Mendelsohn (PEPP) – 6-2

3: Carlos Donat/Jamie Fisher (POR) def. Dennis Uspensky/Yusuf Khamis (PEPP) – 6-4

MATCH RECAP

In doubles, Dane Esses and Lautaro Pane continued their hot streak, coming a point within a fourth-straight victory before the doubles point was clinched on court five. The Pilots added a victory on court three to round out the doubles matches.

Down a point going into singles, the Waves came out firing. Pane got a quick victory over Alex Wallace on five, winning 6-4, 6-2. Esses followed suit on three, defeating Pierre Garcia 6-2, 6-2. Portland took the final three matches on courts four, one and six to clinch the match. Yusuf Khamis fought back to win the second set 6-4 after losing the first set 4-6. He was leading 2-1 in the third set before the match was clinched.

#8 Waves Extend Streak to Nine with Win at Gonzaga

Three Waves' singles are curerntly on six or more consecutive wins.

Mayar Sherif (Photo by Sarah Otteman)

Results

SPOKANE, Wash. – After battling through to win the doubles point early, the No. 8 Pepperdine women’s tennis team dominated the singles action towards a 4-0 road-sweep over Gonzaga at the Stevens Center on Friday afternoon.

The Waves (15-1, 4-0 WCC) extend the team’s current winning streak to nine-matches, including four-straight sweeps, with the win over West Coast Conference opponent Gonzaga (13-5, 4-1 WCC).

RESULTS

#8 Pepperdine 4, Gonzaga 0

#2 BYU Offense Puts #4 Waves Under at Home

Colby Harriman (6) (photo by Martin A. Folb), Recap courtesy of Pepperdine

Colby Harriman led both sides of the net with 12 kills.

MALIBU, Calif. – The No. 4 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team was felled in three sets by No. 2 BYU in Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday night for the first of the final two regular season Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches.

The Cougars (20-5, 10-1 MPSF) posted a strong offensive throughout the match to mark 25-20, 25-17 and 25-14 set scores over the Waves (14-7, 7-4 MPSF).

BIG WAVES

Colby Harriman (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS): 12 kills, 5 digs

Alex Harthaller (Innsbruck, Austria/Akademischeg Gymnasium/IPFW): 8 kills, 2 aces, 3 digs, 2 blocks (1 solo)

Robert Mullahey (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS): 27 assists, 3 digs

David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy): 2 aces, 6 digs, 3 kills

Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS): 4 kills, 1 block (solo)

Max Chamberlain (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs HS): 3 kills, 1.000 hitting %, 1 block

WAVES VS. COUGARS

Pepperdine posted 31 kills on a .214 clip, while BYU marked 33 kills on a .400 success rate. The opposition put down 11 aces and led with 17 digs and 7.5 team blocks, while the Waves added four aces, 22 digs and 3.5 team blocks in the match.

PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET

Set K-E-TA (Pct)

1. 9-6-23 (.130)

2. 13-5-27 (.296)

3. 9-5-20 (.200)

TOTAL: 31-16-70 (.214)

BYU ATTACK BY SET

Set K-E-TA (Pct)

1. 9-4-19 (.263)

2. 13-2-26 (.423)

3. 11-1-20 (.500)

TOTAL: 33-7-65 (.400)

NOTABLES

In the Waves’ 21 matches, David Wieczorek has led the team in kills on 14 occasions.

Pepperdine has gone 8-6 against ranked teams, including three top-five upsets this season with a sweep over #2 UCLA and four-set wins over #3 Hawai’i and #4 UC Irvine.

The Waves have posted an 11-0 record when leading in hitting percentage and 10-1 when leading in kills and/or blocks throughout the match.

David Wieczorek leads the conference in points/set, aces/set and kills/set and is second in hitting percentage.

Robert Mullahey and Max Chamberlain rank in the top-five in two separate statistical categories, with Mullahey averaging 10.46 assists/set and Chamberlain posting 1.27 blocks/set this season.

PLAY-BY-PLAY

Each side came out strong in the first set, working towards a 13-13 tied score before BYU went on a 6-1 run to pull ahead with a strong service output. After a timeout, the Waves countered with a 3-1 run of the team’s own to close the gap. Pepperdine would fall short, though, as the Cougars shut the set down with a 25-20 set win. The opposition worked off the momentum of the first set win to take an early lead in the second. After pulling ahead 15-9, the energy was on the other side of the net and more strong services pushed the Cougars to a 25-17 set win.

With the match on the line, the Waves came out firing. After a few tied scores, BYU made the adjustments needed to pull away and ended the match with a 25-14 set win.

NEXT UP

Next, the stay in Malibu to host Stanford for senior day on April 7 at 5 p.m. Follow the Waves on Facebook and Twitter, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram, @PepperdineWaves. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.

PEPPERDINE DROPS MID-WEEK CONTEST TO CSUN

Pepperdine's Jeremy Farraye throws to first during the Waves' loss to CSUN on Tuesday in Malibu. (Clayton Jones Photo)

Wills, Cook each go 2-for-4 for the Waves

GAME NOTES

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine baseball team dropped a mid-week game to CSUN 10-4 on Tuesday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
The Waves’ Cory Wills and Billy Cook each went 2-for-4 to account for four of Pepperdine’s five hits in the contest.

BIG WAVES

• Junior Cory Wills (Henderson, Nev./Basic HS) went 2-for-4 with two runs.
• Freshman Billy Cook (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer HS) went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
• Sophomore Benjamin Slattery (Geneva, Ill./Geneva HS) went 4.2 innings in relief and gave up two runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.

PLAY-BY-PLAY

The Waves fell behind 4-0 in the second inning, but answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame – highlighted by Billy Cookand Dante Faicchio RBI singles (Faicchio’s first official hit, though he has a hit in a game that was suspended against UC Santa Barbara and will be completed May 8) – to cut the CSUN lead to one.
But the Matadors scored one in the third and three in the fourth to increase their lead to 8-3.
Cook had his second RBI of the game in the bottom of the fourth as he short hopped the wall in left with an RBI double to make it 8-4 CSUN.
But the Matadors hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to make it 10-4 and neither team scored the rest of the way.

UP NEXT

The Waves return to WCC play 3 p.m. Friday when they begin a three-game set against Pacific in Malibu.

#5 Waves Blank Pacific 7-0 at Home

Final Stats

Laura Gulbe (Photo by: Catt Ott)

MALIBU, Calif. – Laura Gulbe clinched her third match in the last four duals at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Friday afternoon, as she propelled the No. 5 Pepperdine women’s tennis team to 7-0 West Coast Conference win against Pacific.

With the blank of Pacific (5-7, 1-1 WCC), the Waves (13-1, 3-0 WCC) have won the last seven-straight matches including three sweeps throughout.

RESULTS

#5 Pepperdine 7, Pacific 0

Singles

1: #25 Luisa Stefani (PEPP) def. Maayan Sela (UOP) – 6-0, 6-1

2: #12 Mayar Sherif (PEPP) def. Dohee Lee (UOP) – 6-2, 6-0

3: #60 Evgeniya Levashova (PEPP) def. Anna Ramos Vinolas (UOP) – 6-1, 6-3

4: #95 Laura Gulbe (PEPP) def. Anneroos Nederstigt (UOP) – 6-1, 6-0

5: Dzina Milovanovic (PEPP) def. Sabrina Rodriguez (UOP) – 6-2, 6-1

6: Adrijana Lekaj (PEPP) def. Jessica Kaye (UOP) – 6-0, 6-0

Order of Finish: 6, 1, 4*, 5, 2, 3

Doubles

1: #30 Luisa Stefani/Mayar Sherif (PEPP) def. Maayan Sela/Dohee Lee (UOP) – 6-1

2: #70 Evgeniya Levashova/Dzina Milovanovic (PEPP) vs. Anna Ramos Vinolas/Karina Vyrlan (UOP) – 5-1, unfinished

3: Laura Gulbe/Adrijana Lekaj (PEPP) def. Sabrina Rodriguez/Anneroos Naderstigt (UOP) – 6-0

Order of Finish: 1, 2*

MATCH RECAP

Pepperdine opened doubles with a 4-0 advantage on all three courts. Despite dropping a point in the match, the Waves’ No. 1 pair, #30 Mayar Sherif and Luisa Stefani, finished first with a 6-1 win over Maayan Sela and Dohee Lee. On court three, Laura Gulbe and Adrijana Lekaj would clinch the overall with an uncontested 6-0 win over Sabrina Rodriguez and Anneroos Nederstigt. #70 Evgeniya Levashova and Dzina Milovanovic were up 5-1 over Anna Ramos Vinolas and Karina Vyrlan on court two before the match went unfinished due to the clinch.

Pepperdine would not stop the momentum in singles, carrying the energy en route to six first set wins to set the tone for the second-straight match. Lekaj dominated her match on six with a pair of 6-0 set wins to finish the first singles match of the day over Jessica Kaye. #25 Stefani would close up shop next with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Maayan Sela on court one.

With the clinch on the table, #95 Gulbe stepped up to the plate for the third time in the last four matches, downing her opponent 6-1, 6-0 on court four to win the overall match for Pepperdine.

Although the match was clinched, the winning ways weren’t done, as Milovanovic would be the next to finish with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Savrina Rodriguez on court five. #12 Sherif stayed solid on court two towards a 6-2, 6-0 win over Dohee Lee. In the last match still in action, Levashova dominated Anna Ramos Vinolas with a 6-1, 6-3 final mark to secure the 7-0 conference sweep for her team.

NOTABLES

The Waves have gone 3-1 against opponents ranked in the top-12 of the Oracle/ITA rankings.

Pepperdine has won the last seven matches and has collected six sweeps this season.

Laura Gulbe is on a seven-match winning streak in singles, while Evgeniya Levashova is on a six-match streak.

In doubles, Ashley Lahey and Adrijana Lekaj have won six-consecutive matches.

The No. 1 doubles position has gone 12-2 this season for the Waves in dual action.

The Waves have gone 58-13 in singles action and 27-8 in doubles play this season.

The Waves have five ranked in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings #12 Mayar Sherif, #15 Ashley Lahey, #25 Luisa Stefani, #61 Evgeniya Levashova and #95 Laura Gulbe.

The team has three doubles pairs ranked with Sherif and Stefani ranking #30, Sherif and Lahey ranking #33 and Milovanovic and Levashova ranking #70.

NEXT UP

Pepperdine remains in Malibu early next week for a non-conference matchup against USC at 1:30 p.m. at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.