No. 40 Santa Clara men’s tennis saw its 13-match win streak come to an end on April 9 as No. 29 Pepperdine defeated the Broncos 4-1 in Malibu, California. The match featured two nationally ranked teams with unbeaten records in West Coast Conference play.
The outcome is significant as it marks the end of Santa Clara’s longest win streak since at least the 2001-02 season and leaves Pepperdine perfect in conference matches this year.
Pepperdine secured the doubles point by winning two out of three matches, including victories by Gustavo de Almeida and Maxi Homberg, as well as Aleksa Pisaric and Lasse Poertner. In singles competition, David Fix defeated Luca Bluett and Homberg beat Valentin Faure to give the Waves a commanding lead. Lukas Maskow put Santa Clara on the board with a straight-set victory over de Almeida before Pisaric clinched the match for Pepperdine by defeating John Kim.
The defeat also ended several individual winning streaks for Santa Clara players. Faure and Ferran Redza’s team-high doubles run of ten consecutive wins was stopped by de Almeida and Homberg, while Kim’s ten-match singles win streak also came to an end.
According to match notes, full results will be posted once available. The Broncos now hold a record of 17-3 overall and are 4-1 in conference play; Pepperdine improves to 14-7 overall with a perfect WCC record at 5-0.
Santa Clara is scheduled to return home for its next match against Loyola Marymount University on Sunday at 11 a.m.
