MALIBU, Calif. (April 6, 2025) – Washington State Women's Tennis, ranked No. 59, captured the opening doubles point but No. 23 Pepperdine won four singles matches to clinch a 4-1 win Sunday in a West Coast Conference match at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 13-7 overall, 3-2 in WCC play. Pepperdine improves to 9-9, 2-0.
 
For the second-straight match, the Cougars grabbed the opening doubles point, winning on Courts 1 and 3. Pepperdine struck first as Alexia Harmon and Anastasiia Grechkina posted a 6-2 win over Elyse Tse and Chisato Kanemaki at No. 2. WSU's No. 1 duo of Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy, ranked No. 40 nationally, overcame an early break to record a 7-5 win over Duru Soke and Sebastiann Scilipoti, pushing the deciding match to Court 3. In a tight match throughout, WSU's Hania Abouelsaad and Martina Markov capitalized on their second match point to win 7-6 (7-2) win over Laim Oved and Vivian Yang to give WSU the early lead.
 
In singles play, the Waves won the first four matches to finish to clinch the victory. Harmon was first off following a 6-1, 6-1 win over Tse at No. 3, while Soke defeated Kanemaki 7-5, 6-1, at No. 5. Oved pushed the lead to 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Martina Puvill at No. 6 before Grechkina, ranked No. 87 nationally, needed three sets to get past Murphy at No. 2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
 
With the team outcome decided, the two remaining matches on court were stopped. At No. 1, Alvarez Sande was in a close battle with Yang, trailing 6-7 (2), 5-3. At No. 4, Abouelsaad was early in the third set against Scilipoti, down a break at 6-7 (2), 6-3, 0-2.
 
The Cougars are next in action Saturday, April 12, when they face the University of Portland, in Portland, Ore.
 
WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS
#23 Pepperdine 4 def. #59 Washington State 1
April 6, 2025
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
Malibu, Calif.
 
DOUBLES
No. 1 #40 Eva Alvarez Sande/Maxine Murphy (WSU) def. Duru Soke/Sebastiann Scilipoti (P) 7-5
No. 2 Alexia Harmon/Anastasiia Grechkina (P) def. Elyse Tse/Chisato Kanemaki (WSU) 6-2
No. 3 Hania Abouelsaad/Martina Markov (WSU) vs. Liam Oved/Vivian Yang (P) 7-6 (2)
Order of Finish: 2,1,3
 
SINGLES
No. 1 Eva Alvarez Sande (WSU) vs. Vivian Yang (P) 6-7 (2), 5-3 DNF
No. 2 #87 Anastasiia Grechkina (P) def. Maxine Murphy (WSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 3 Alexia Harmon (P) def. Elyse Tse (WSU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Hania Abouelsaad (WSU) vs. Sebastiann Scilipoti (P) 6-7 (2), 6-3, 0-2 DNF
No. 5 Duru Soke (P) def. Chisato Kanemaki (WSU) 7-5, 6-1
No. 6 Kiam Oved (P) def. Martina Puvill (WSU) 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3,5,6,2