May 14, 2005

Pepperdine - 4
UC Irvine - 0

Malibu, Calif. - The host Waves improved to 22-2 on the season by defeating UC Irvine Saturday at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center by a 4-0 margin in the opening round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship. Pepperdine will face Stanford in the second round Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Pepperdine came out motivated, looking to stay perfect at home in 2005. The Waves took convincing doubles victories at number one and number three to kick off their 16th home win.

Singles action continued the rapid pace set by doubles. Ivor Lovrak defeated Peter Surapol 6-2, 6-0 as Scott Doerner disposed of Brain Morton 6-2, 6-1. Immediately following Doerner's win, Alexis Rafidison capped off the match with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Mustafa Ulukan on court six.

With the Waves' reservation in Sunday's second round match already secured, Stanford and San Diego took the courts for the second opening. The doubles point was won by Stanford when Phil Sheng and Jon Wong fended off USD's triple match point before clinching the point at 9-8 (4).

KC Corkery, James Wan and Eric McKean registered Stanford's three singles wins for the 4-0 victory.

In the first meeting of the year between the two teams, Pepperdine defeated the Cardinal 4-3 in Palo Alto.

Pepperdine 4, UC Irvine 0

Doubles

1. Doerner/Rico (Pepperdine) def. Morton/Kashiwabara (UC Irvine) 8-2

2. Berg/Lovrak (Pepperdine) vs. Sjolund/Ulukan (UC Irvine) Unfinished

3. Borzenski/Johnson (Pepperdine) def. Surapol/Lamm (UC Irvine) 8-1

Singles

1. Scott Doerner (Pepperdine) def. Brian Morton (UC Irvine) 6-2, 6-1

2. Pedro Rico (Pepperdine) vs. Ryusuke Kashiwabara (UC Irvine) Unfinished

3. Jonas Berg (Pepperdine) vs. Victor Lamm (UC Irvine) Unfinished

4. Ivor Lovrak (Pepperdine) vs. Peter Surapol (UC Irvine) 6-2, 6-0

5. Richard Johnson (Pepperdine) vs. Olof Sjolund (UC Irvine) Unfinished

6. Alexis Rafidison (Pepperdine) vs. Mustafa Ulukan (UC Irvine) 6-2, 6-1

Stanford - 4
San Diego - 0

Malibu, Calif. - The University of San Diego gave perennial power Stanford University all it could handle this afternoon, but ultimately fell 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on the campus of Pepperdine University. Thrilling doubles play highlighted the afternoon, with the Cardinal pulling out two victories in doubles play to secure the all-important doubles point to set the tone of the match.

"It was a tight match. Obviously, they are a good team, we're a good team. When you play other good teams, it is going to come down to a couple points," says head coach Tom Hagedorn. "I credit them with their fight. No matter how far the chips were down, they battled and it was just good tennis. We came up a little short."

The 39th-ranked Toreros struck first in doubles play, as Oscar Plotnik and Pierrick Ysern fought off the feisty duo of KC Corkery and James Wan 8-6 on Court 2. The 22nd-ranked Cardinal immediately answered back when their No. 1 team of Eric McKean and Sam Warburg put away Nic Beuque and Mirza Koristovic 8-4 to set-up a showdown on Court 3 to determine the doubles point. In a back-and-forth match that showcased great doubles skills, USD's Robbie Blair and Thomas Liversage found themselves up three match point at 7-6. However, the team of Phil Sheng and Jon Wong fought back to win the game and tie it up at 7-7. After each team held serve, a tiebreaker was played. Although San Diego raced out to a quick 3-1 lead, Stanford finished off the contest 7-4 to win the match and the doubles point.

Stanford built on its lead after Corkery defeated Beuque on Court 2 6-0, 6-3. At the No. 3 position, Wan took a hard-fought match over Koristovic 6-4, 6-1. The Cardinal put the final nail in the coffin after McKean was able to grind out a victory over Plotnik 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 6 spot. The remaining matches were abandoned after the match was clinched.

While the Toreros will return a solid nucleus next season to make another run at the NCAA Tournament next year, they will graduate two impact players in Nic Beuque and Robbie Blair who have made their mark in San Diego tennis throughout their careers.

"I'm disappointed. Not because we lost - we gave all that we had - but because it was my last match," reflects Blair. "You don't realize it until you are finished. So at the moment, I am just trying to absorb it all. I am done with college tennis, but it was four amazing years."

San Diego finishes with a record of 16-7 on the year, while Stanford improves to 14-10.

Doubles (Stanford wins the doubles point)

1. Eric McKean/Sam Warburg (SU) def. Nic Beuque/Mirza Koristovic (USD), 8-4

2. Oscar Plotnik/Pierrick Ysern (USD) def. KC Corkery/James Wan (SU), 8-6

3. Phil Sheng/Jon Wong (SU) def. Robbie Blair/Thomas Liversage (SU), 9-7 (4)

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles

1. Sam Warburg (SU) vs. Pierrick Ysern (USD), 6-4, 3-5 (DNF)

2. KC Corkery (SU) def. Nic Beuque (USD), 6-0, 6-3

3. James Wan (SU) def. Mirza Koristovic (USD), 6-4, 6-1

4. Phil Sheng (SU) vs. Robbie Blair (USD), 7-5, 3-5 (DNF)

5. Phil Kao (SU) vs. Thomas Liversage (USD), 7-5, 4-2 (DNF)

6. Eric McKean (SU) def. Oscar Plotnik (USD), 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: 2, 3, 6