Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV women's tennis team suffered its first defeat of the young season, 4-0, at third-ranked Pepperdine Saturday in Malibu, California. Playing at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend event, the Rebels fell to 2-1 while the powerhouse Waves improved their all-time record against UNLV to 17-1 in what was their first dual match of the season.

Because the teams agreed to stop when one reached the clinching fourth point, UNLV sophomore Aiwen Zhu came away without a decision, but was impressive nonetheless. She and doubles partner En-Pei Huang were leading the nation's third-ranked doubles team, Christine Maddox and Mayar Sherif Ahmed, 5-4, when the match was halted, and then in singles Zhu led No. 21 Ashley Lahey 6-4, 2-1 when action was stopped.

The Waves opened the morning by taking the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. The hosts then won straight-setters on courts three, five and six to clinch it. UNLV's lone ranked player, No. 48 Carol Yang, was trailing No. 8 Luisa Stefani at the top of the lineup when play was halted.

UNLV will now face the loser of Saturday's match between Arkansas and North Carolina State in Sunday's consolation match at 10 a.m.

The ninth annual ITA Kickoff Weekend is taking place at 23 different Division I tennis facilities across the country. In all, there are 60 teams competing per gender. The winners of the single-elimination event advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships.

Women's Tennis Match ResultsITA KICKOFF WEEKEND#3 PEPPERDINE 4, UNLV 0 Jan. 28, 2017, at Malibu, CA(Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
 Singles competition1. #8 Stefani, Luisa (PEP) vs. #48 Carol Yang (UNLV) 6-1, 5-4 unfinished2. Aiwen Zhu (UNLV) vs. #21 Lahey, Ashley (PEP) 6-4, 2-1 unfinished3. #22 Sherif Ahmed, Mayar (PEP) def. Paola Artiga (UNLV) 6-1, 6-44. Gulbe, Laura (PEP) vs. Anna Bogoslavets (UNLV) 6-3, 3-3 unfinished5. Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) def. En-Pei Huang (UNLV) 6-0, 6-26. Runglerdkriangkrai,A (PEP) def. Jovana Kenic (UNLV) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition1. Zhu/Huang (UNLV) vs. #3 Maddox, Christine/Sherif Ahmed (PEP) 5-4 unfinished2. #8 Stefani, Luisa/Runglerdkriangkrai,A (PEP) def. Cristina Moroi/Carol Yang (UNLV) 6-33. Lahey, Ashley/Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) def. Anna Bogoslavets/Paola Artiga (UNLV) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,6,3)