Men’s Tennis Advances via a 5-2 Win over Pepperdine

Friday, January 27

Berkeley, Calif.

3 pm

Tulane University

Pepperdine University

Men’s Tennis Advances via a 5-2 Win over Pepperdine

Jan 27, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Green Wave to challenge No. 4 California tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT

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BERKELEY, Calif. – The Tulane men's tennis team (3-0) booked its ticket to Saturday's ITA Kick-Off regional final after a gutsy 5-2 win over Pepperdine (1-1) this afternoon. The Green Wave clinched the doubles point, before falling behind 2-1, then rallied with four straight victories, including three-set clinchers from Constantin Schmitz and Tyler Schick ending at the exact same time.

"Great effort by our guys today, beating a tough and hungry Pepperdine squad," Tulane head coach Mark Booras stated. "The guys played with a lot of heart today and executed in a lot of the important areas that we've been preaching on. It was nice to see them come together when the pressure was on. At the end, it was a great example of finding a way to win by both Constantin and Tyler. Great that they both clinched the match for us at the same exact time."

The Green Wave grabbed the early 1-0 lead in a thrilling doubles-point clincher. Schmitz and Schick rolled to a 6-3 win on court three before all eyes turned to Chi-Shan Jao and Sebastian Rey on court one after Tulane dropped a 6-3 decision on court two. Jao/Rey exchanged shots the entire way with Van Slyke/Menichella, until the Tulane duo surged ahead in the tiebreaker for the 7-6(1) win.

The two sides split the first sets, 3-3, in singles before Pepperdine earned their only lead of the match at 2-1 after straight-set victories on courts two and six. Yet, Tulane immediately recaptured the momentum thanks to a 6-3, 6-2, win from Rey on court three, and a 6-4, 6-1, victory from freshman Luis Erlenbusch on court five.

Next, both Schmitz on court one, and Schick on court four, battled into third sets, as both raced to play the role of clincher to push the Green Wave on to tomorrow's final. Then, in a unique twist, Schmitz wrapped his 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, victory coinciding with Schick's 6-7(1), 7-6(3), 6-4 win, thus giving us the 5-2 result.

No. 4 California now awaits the Green Wave tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT, with the winner advancing to next month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Once again, fans can follow the action via the live stream linked on Tulane's website at www.TulaneGreenWave.com

Green Wave Results
Tulane 5, Pepperdine 2
Singles competition – 2, 6, 3, 5, 1, 4
1. #54 Constantin Schmitz (TLN) def. Guilherme Hadlich (PEPP) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
2. Stefan Menichella (PEPP) def. Ewan Moore (TLN) 6-3, 6-2
3. Sebastian Rey (TLN) def. Pedro Iamachkine (PEPP) 6-3, 6-2
4. Tyler Schick (TLN) def. Lautaro Pane (PEPP) 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
5. Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) def. Jack Van Slyke (PEPP) 6-4, 6-1
6. Dane Esses (PEPP) def. Chi-Shan Jao (TLN) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles competition – 3, 2, 1
1. Sebastian Rey/Chi-Shan Jao (TLN) def. Stefan Menichella/Jack Van Slyke (PEPP) 7-6 (7-1)
2. Gabriel Sidney/Guilherme Hadlich (PEPP) def. Ewan Moore/Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) 6-3
3. Constantin Schmitz/Tyler Schick (TLN) def. Tom Hill/Pedro Iamachkine (PEPP) 6-3