University of Washington
Pepperdine
Huskies Fall In Second Round At No. 7 Pepperdine
May 12, 2012 | Men's Tennis
May 12, 2012
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS • FIRST & SECOND ROUNDS
MALIBU, CALIF. • hosted by PEPPERDINE • RALPHS-STRAUS TENNIS CENTER
FRIDAY, MAY 11 - FIRST ROUND
(7) Pepperdine (24-6) def. Green Bay (19-7), 4-0
SATURDAY, MAY 12 - SECOND ROUND
(7) Pepperdine (25-6) def. Washington (17-9), 4-0
MALIBU, Calif. - The Husky men's tennis team bowed out of the NCAA Championships today in the second round, unable to topple seventh-seeded Pepperdine on the Waves' home Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. Washington was leading or even in the final three singles matches, but Pepperdine stopped the match with a win at No. 4 singles for the 4-0 victory.
Washington defeated North Carolina State in the first round on Friday but fell to the Waves for the second time this season, completing the year at 17-9 overall. Pepperdine (25-6) moves on to the round of 16 and has won 22 matches in a row.
The Huskies fell behind after doubles, similar to Friday, but were unable to bring it back around today. Pepperdine quickly pushed the lead to 3-0 as redshirt freshman Nicholas Kamisar and freshman Emmett Egger each could not get on track today and lost in straight sets at No. 6 singles and No. 3 singles.
At No. 1 singles, 23rd-ranked Kyle McMorrow, named All-Pac-12 First Team yesterday, was even with 8th-ranked Sebastian Fanselow in the third set. McMorrow won the first set, 6-3, Fanselow took the second, 6-2, and the two were tied at 3-3 in the third set. Junior Marton Bots won the first set over 30th-ranked Finn Tearney, 6-2, and the two were playing a tiebreaker in the second set. At No. 5 singles, freshman Viktor Farkas had battled back from a 4-6 first set loss, and won the second set over Hugh Clarke, 6-2, and was up 3-1 in the third set.
But those matches were stopped when Pepperdine's 105th-ranked Mousheg Hovhannisyan stopped sophomore Max Manthou at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-4. Manthou was up 4-3 in the second set but was unable to extend things to a third.
"The doubles was very frustrating," said Head Coach Matt Anger. "I was hoping we could bounce back better and be a little more energetic, but we weren't able to do that. Then we were right back where we've been a number of times this year, playing hard in singles. We did not give ourselves much margin for error, falling behind 3-0, that did make it tough. But I was thinking all along we could come back in that mach. Very disappointing to have the season end."
Washington will graduate just two players from this year's squad, Skyler Tateishi and Matt Stith. Stith started at second doubles today with Egger, though the two did not get to finish as Pepperdine took the first and third doubles matches. So the Dawgs will bring back all six of their singles starters for 2012-13.
"Matt and Skyler, their support this whole weekend was incredible," Anger said. "They were a big part of our match yesterday and what we were doing today. The guys know they're there supporting them, and I have only good feelings towards Matt and Skyler, and it's sad that this is the end of their careers, but I do look ahead and I am excited about our future. We're not easy to play against in the singles and our guys are going to only get better. But doubles we need to improve dramatically. I like our guys, I know we can compete hard, and this summer will be big for making changes to be that much tougher next season."
McMorrow will still have some big matches ahead as he will compete in the NCAA Singles Championships in Athens, Ga. starting May 23.
Washington Men's Tennis
NCAA Championships - Second Round
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center - Malibu, Calif.
Hosted by Pepperdine
May 12, 2012
No. 7 Pepperdine 4, No. 28 Washington 0
Doubles
2) Egger/Stith (UW) vs. Fanselow/Turner (Pep), 3-5, DNF
3) Sofaer/Clarke (Pep) def. Hawke/Manthou (UW), 8-4
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles
1) (23) Kyle McMorrow (UW) vs. (8) Sebastian Fanselow (Pep), 6-3, 2-6, 3-3, DNF
2) Marton Bots (UW) vs. (30) Finn Tearney (Pep), 6-2, 6-6, DNF
3) Alex Llompart (Pep) def. Emmett Egger (UW), 6-1, 6-1
4) (105) Mousheg Hovhannisyan (Pep) def. Max Manthou (UW), 6-2, 6-4
5) Viktor Farkas (UW) vs. Hugh Clarke (Pep), 4-6, 6-2, 3-1, DNF
6) Jenson Turner (Pep) def. Nicholas Kamisar (UW), 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 1, 3, 4
Players Mentioned
