Coming into the Tennis on Campus (TOC) Southern California Sectionals in 2022, Pepperdine Club Tennis had not qualified for Nationals in over seven years. The Malibu based school showed up to Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego with only five players, while most other schools had at least double, or even five or six times as many members. Looking like any number of long shot family sports movie teams, with heart, unity and an unwieldy number of tennis matches in two days. Somehow, the rebels defeated the Empire and destroyed the Death Sta- Pepperdine University qualified for TOC Nationals!
Speaking to Pepperdine team captain Andrew Wong, the third-year Business major seemed at once proud, stunned, and pleasantly surprised at the outcome and the events that led to Pepperdine’s success at the tournament. Wong no doubt had faith in his players before the weekend, even though the squad arrived at Sectionals without some of their fellow Waves. “We wish we could have brought more people,” he said. “It just unfortunately didn’t work out with many people’s schedules.”
Wong was certainly right to have been uneasy coming in with five players given the size and depth that other schools had over the course of the weekend. By contract, UCLA’s Undergraduate student body outnumbered Pepperdine’s nine-to-one, and that’s just one school. “All these UC schools had so many people, so it’s easy to find talent,” he said. “Pepperdine’s such a small school, so I’m just super proud of my team.” Wong admits that when rounding up his four other teammates he had to warn them that they might be playing a lot of games and might not necessarily have had the best shot.
Ana Rodriguez, a second year student from Honduras, agreed.
“It was definitely challenging,” she admitted, “but I feel like everyone just wanted to play. Andrew had warned us it’s gonna be a lot of matches and we said, ‘OK, we’re down.’” Rodriguez boldly proclaimed her teams’ eagerness to get stuck in and play as much as they could. Rodriguez has been playing tennis since she was ten years old, however she stopped some years ago and only got back into the game right before starting at Pepperdine. Given that they only had five players and no real chance for any substitutions, Rodriguez and her teammates had very little rest and had to play far more matches than any other school.
When asked what their motivation was if they weren’t walking in with the express goal of making it to nationals, Rodriguez provided an insightful answer. “Tournaments join a team together and that was one of our goals. To go have fun and become more united.” This positive attitude and the focus on unity may seem lighthearted, but from speaking with the whole team it’s evident to me that this was their edge.
“I wasn’t personally thinking of Nationals. Once we made the Gold bracket we started thinking that we can put it all together.” Sri-Lankan Freshman, Anika Seneviratne had a similar analysis of their team’s goals and how they progressed at the tournament Anika’s eyes had a joyful sparkle in them throughout the interview and she went deeper into her history in the sport and how Pepperdine changed her.
“I played a lot of tennis growing up, but I haven’t really enjoyed it in a long time. This weekend was the first time in a long time that I remember why I like playing tennis, I’ve got a great team.” Seneviratne has been playing tennis since childhood and expressed a feeling of burnout from competitive tennis before getting to College. However, her words about the Pepperdine team and culture radiated an aura of rejuvenation. “Everyone at Pepperdine being so nice is really encouraging, where for so many of us tennis has previously been a discouraging force in our lives.”
Pepperdine Club Tennis seems to have some magical restorative abilities, as we can see a similar story through the team’s fifth player, Canadian Sophomore, Conrad Chilcott. “I picked up the racquet when I was three but stopped playing in high school.” Chilcott had played in Canada as well as as much as he could numerous times when traveling to Southern California.
Like his teammates, Chilcott was thrilled to be going to Nationals, having given a mass of energy in the effort and just as much seemed to be in a state of earned exhaustion. “I just try to be as loud as I can for my teammates, and I’ve just grown to love these guys over this weekend.” Given the number of matches that he would have played over the weekend, it would have been understandable if Pepperdine was not the loudest on the sidelines, but by Chilcott’s spirit it was clear that this was not the case. Pepperdine’s secret weapon is demonstrably their energy and passion.
“Tennis is a lifelong sport and that’s what is so great about it. It’s also great that the USTA has so many league matches,” said Freshman, Alexander Davis, about his desire to stick with tennis in the long run. This was undoubtedly a feeling which he might not have expressed had he not found a community at Pepperdine. “Definitely what makes us come back is the people.” Rodriguez was clear on why she continues to stay involved in tennis and why she wants to continue to do so. Seneviratne backed this up and gave a glowing review of the Pepperdine Club Tennis program, saying, “I just want to enjoy it and I think the Pepperdine club team is just one of the best places to do it. The atmosphere is just amazing. You have so much fun and you make amazing friends.”
The entire team embodied this atmosphere, and quickly our conversation shifted to what they were most excited about when going to Nationals in April. Being in Florida, the debate raged between whether the answer was Universal Studios or Disneyland, until eventually one of them mentioned that they should say something about the tennis. “To see all the different club teams there from across the nation,” interjected Davis as the entire Pepperdine team laughed about their upcoming trip.
Also qualified for TOC Nationals from Southern California are the champions and defending national title holders UCLA, as well as regular contenders Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, USC, UCSD, and UCSB.
Ana Rodriguez gave a signature uplifting answer when talking about Nationals and if they would change their approach alongside all the other Southern California contenders. She said “We think of ourselves as underdogs. And even going to Nationals that would only be our second tournament playing together. We’ll just go, become more united, have fun and see what we can do.”
This underdog mentality sits well on the shoulders of Pepperdine. Having defied the odds to qualify for Nationals in a very competitive regional tournament in San Diego, they have their sights set on continuing their tale and growth as a team. As they head to Orlando, it’s clear they will ride their wave of positivity, enjoy the sport of tennis and continue to pave their path, together.