MALIBU, Calif. - Abilene Christian's 16th-ranked men's tennis team lost its second straight match to a DI opponent Saturday, falling 7-0 to the eighth-ranked Waves of Pepperdine University.
The Wildcats (16-8) won their lone match at No. 1 doubles where the sixth-ranked DII tandem of
Hans Hach and
Nick Plum knocked off the fourth-ranked DI duo of Finn Tearney and Alex Llompart, 8-5. Hach and Plum jumped out to a 5-0 lead and improved to 9-0 this spring when competing together at top line.
ACU's other two combinations, however, weren't as fortunate and the Wildcats entered singles trailing 1-0.
The Waves went on to win all six singles matches, but struggled to put away
Alfredo Desiati at No.4 and
Michael Morris at No. 6. After dropping his first set to David Sofaer, 6-1, Desiati came back to win the second set, 7-6 (4), and nearly pulled off the upset in the 10-point tiebreak before ultimately falling, 11-9. Sofaer led 7-1 at one point in the tiebreak before watching his lead disappear.
Morris, meanwhile, won the first set over Kento Tanaka-Tamaki, and then dropped the next two, 6-4, 11-9.
Hach lost for just the fourth time all season at the No. 1 line, falling to No. 16 Tearney, 7-5, 6-1. All of Hach's defeats this year have come against DI opposition, with three of them nationally ranked among the top 35.
Hach's doubles win was his 11th straight and raised his season record to an impressive 21-1.
The Wildcats return to action Sunday for a neutral-site match at Pepperdine vs. UC San Diego.
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#8 Pepperdine 7, Abilene Christian 0
Singles competition
1. #16 Finn Tearney (PEP) def.
Hans Hach (ACUM) 7-5, 6-1
2. Alex Llompart (PEP) def. Borja Cortes (ACUM) 6-1, 6-1
3. #80 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def.
Nick Plum (ACUM) 6-2, 6-1
4. David Sofaer (PEP) def.
Alfredo Desiati (ACUM) 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 11-9
5. Daniel Moss (PEP) def.
Guilherme Gesser (ACUM) 6-1, 6-2
6. Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (PEP) def.
Michael Morris (ACUM) 4-6, 6-4, 11-9
Doubles competition
1.
Hans Hach/
Nick Plum (ACUM) def. #4 Finn Tearney/Alex Llompart (PEP) 8-5
2. Hugh Clarke/Jenson Turner (PEP) def. Borja Cortes/
Alfredo Desiati (ACUM) 8-2
3. Mousheg Hovhannisyan/David Sofaer (PEP) def.
Guilherme Gesser/
Michael Morris (ACUM) 8-3
Match Notes:
Abilene Christian 16-8
Pepperdine 19-6, 6-0 WCC; National ranking #8
