MALIBU, Calif. — Heading into the final week of the regular season, the #8 Pepperdine women’s tennis team has two significant home matches this week. On Friday, the Waves host #21 San Diego for a de facto West Coast Conference regular-season title match, then on Saturday, Pepperdine wraps up the regular season against Saint Mary’s.
Friday’s match against San Diego is scheduled for 1 p.m., while Saturday’s match against Saint Mary’s begins at noon. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for Saturday’s match as Pepperdine will honor its seniors Anna Campana, Nikki Redelijk, Janice Tjen and Lisa Zaar before doubles play. Admission to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center is free to the public, plus the matches will be livestreamed via PlaySight. All live stream and live stat links can be found on the women’s tennis team’s schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
The Waves have won an impressive 76 consecutive WCC matches in a streak that dates back to the 2015 season. Recently, San Diego has cemented itself as the WCC’s second-best team and biggest challenger to Pepperdine; last year, the Waves eked out a 4-3 win over the Toreros with Zaar’s three-set win over Solymar Colling. Should Pepperdine win both matches this week, the Waves will complete their eighth-consecutive undefeated season in conference play.
MATCH 20: #8 Pepperdine (13-6, 4-0 WCC) vs. #21 San Diego (15-5, 5-0 WCC) | 1 p.m. | Malibu, Calif. | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
MATCH 21: #8 Pepperdine (13-6, 4-0 WCC) vs. Saint Mary’s (12-5, 5-1 WCC) | 1 p.m. | Malibu, Calif. | Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Last week, the Waves successfully rebounded from its difficult start to the month with two 7-0 sweeps at Portland and Gonzaga, bringing them to a perfect 4-0 in conference play. With 5-0 San Diego and 5-1 Saint Mary’s coming to Malibu this week, Pepperdine can clinch a share of the WCC regular season title with a win on Friday, then win the title outright on Saturday.
This week marks the last WCC home matches of an illustrious four-woman class of Anna Campana, Nikki Redelijk, Janice Tjen and Lisa Zaar — all of whom have been major contributors to helping the Waves rise to national prominence under Head Coach Per Nilsson.
While Campana and Tjen joined the team as transfers, both have helped Pepperdine in their own ways as regular fixtures in the Waves’ lineup during their careers.
Tjen’s success in doubles with Savannah Broadus is well-documented: Ever since arriving in Malibu during the 2022 season, Tjen has won an ITA Fall National Championship doubles title, earned All-American honors three times (twice in doubles, once in singles), won a 2023 WCC Player of the Year award and experienced winning a plethora of WCC awards, beating top-ranked opponents and turning in clutch performances along the way. As it stands, Tjen has put together one of Pepperdine’s most highly decorated careers in recent memory, regardless of sport.
Earlier this week, Tjen continued her steady climb up the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings by checking in at No. 42 — her highest ranking since the fall. She also earned the WCC’s Singles Player of the Week award for the second time this season after two straight-set wins at the first position last week. Tjen has won nine of her last 10 matches and in on a four-match win streak.
Joining the team last season alongside her older sister Carolyn Campana, Anna Campana has been a steady contributor for the Waves in the back half of the lineup. After playing as the Waves’ number six last year, #84 Campana has enjoyed the best season of her Pepperdine career by holding down the fourth spot in the lineup and by being nationally ranked in singles all season. Campana began her year with a solid fall season, in which she played her way into the qualifying draw at the ITA All-American Tournament, went 11-3 in the fall and continued that success into the spring.
The last remaining players from Pepperdine’s 2021 national runner-up squad, fifth-year graduate senior Zaar and fourth-year senior Redelijk look to notch two more regular season home wins this week. Both Redelijk and Zaar have only known success at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. The Waves have gone 47-2 at home during Zaar’s career and 41-2 in Redelijk’s four years; both stretches include three consecutive years hosting postseason matches at home.
Redelijk was a true freshman on Pepperdine’s 2021 national-runner-up team and has remained a fixture in the Waves’ lineup ever since. Currently slotted at No. 74 in the latest ITA singles rankings, Redelijk owns a six-match win streak at the fifth position, where she has won seven of her last eight matches dating back to the beginning of March. For the first time in her career, Redelijk has been ranked in the ITA singles rankings all year long, and her solid play at the back of Pepeprdine’s lineup has been invaluable in matches against USC, California and Ohio State this year.
Lastly, #14 Zaar is one of many Waves from the 2021 national-runner-up team to put together a stellar collegiate career. An All-American in singles and a two-time All-WCC First Team singles selection, Zaar’s 107 wins (and counting) are good for fifth all-time in Pepperdine history. Returning for her fifth season this year was crucial for the Waves. This year, Zaar gives Pepperdine a consistent top-20 singles player at the top of the lineup with a solid 13-4 record in dual-match play. Zaar has been a top-20 singles player ever since February and has notched wins against five top-25 players this year.
SCOUTING THE TOREROS
As the WCC’s only other top-25 team, San Diego has been on a collision course with the Waves this season. Friday’s match in Malibu is USD’s final regular-season match of a 15-5 campaign that is sure to land the Toreros in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season.
Pepperdine and USD have several common non-conference opponents. Like the Waves, the Toreros have wins over USC and San Diego State, plus losses to Stanford and California. However, the Waves have a win over Florida, which beat USD 4-3 during the ITA Kickoff weekend. USD also has quality wins over Texas A&M, Arizona State and SMU.
San Diego has two nationally ranked singles players in #66 Mia Mack and #67 Claudia De Las Heras — the former of whom has made an immediate impact for the Toreros after transferring from Miami in the offseason. De Las Heras holds down the first singles position with her 11-6 record in dual match play, which includes seven wins over ranked opponents.
In doubles, San Diego doesn’t have a ranked doubles team, but that hasn’t stopped the Toreros from clinching the doubles point 12 times this year. Elizabeth Goldsmith and Mack only have a .500 record at the first position, but De Las Heras and Jordyn McBride lead the team with eight doubles wins playing all across the lineup.
SCOUTING THE GAELS
Having established themselves as the conference’s third-best team, the Gaels come to Malibu after taking on LMU on Friday afternoon. After mostly competing against regional competition in the non-conference season, Saint Mary’s began WCC play with three straight wins before getting swept by San Diego on April 6. Since then, the Gaels swept Santa Clara and San Francisco to solidify themselves at third in the conference standings with a 5-1 record.
The Gaels have no nationally ranked singles or doubles players. Sophomore Stefanie Silva leads the team with seven singles wins while playing mostly as a lower-lineup contributor. She and Gaels’ number two singles player Lene Mari Hovda come into the weekend with win streaks of three singles matches or more (Silva has won her last four; Hovda her last three). In doubles, the Gaels have clinched the doubles point four times in their six conference matches; the team of Sofia Daryaie and Silva lead the Gaels with a 4-2 record in WCC play.
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