MALIBU, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV dropped its season-opening match Saturday in the first round of the 2019 ITA Kick-Off Weekend event, falling 4-0 at seventh-ranked Pepperdine at Ralphs-Strauss Stadium.
 
The powerhouse Waves, who sport five nationally ranked entries in singles and doubles, opened by winning doubles matches at the top and bottom courts by the same score of 6-2 to earn a 1-0 lead.
 
In singles play, the hosts quickly swept three matches to end it. The Rebels were leading on one of the remaining courts as Izumi Asano led No. 28 Jessica Faila, 7-6, 1-0 at the third position when it was halted.

QUOTABLE: "Pepperdine showed today why they are ranked seventh in the country. We competed well in several positions and had our chances."
-UNLV Head Coach Kevin Cory
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will play in the consolation round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Sunday at 10 a.m. The opponent will be Oregon, which fell 4-0 to Denver in Saturday's afternoon match.
 
Women's Tennis Match Results
2019 ITA Kick-Off Weekend
#7 PEPPERDINE 4, UNLV 0
Jan. 26, 2019 at Malibu, Calif.
(Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
 
Singles competition
1. #106 Lahey, Ashley (PEPP) vs. Aiwen Zhu (UNLV) 6-3, 4-4, unfinished
2. #17 Levashova, Evgeniya (PEPP) def. Anna Bogoslavets (UNLV) 6-0, 6-2
3. Izumi Asano (UNLV) vs. #28 Failla, Jessica (PEPP) 7-6 (8-6), 1-0, unfinished
4. Lekaj, Adrijana (PEPP) def. En-Pei Huang (UNLV) 6-1, 6-4
5. Takamura, Satsuki (PEPP) def. Connie Li (UNLV) 6-2, 6-1
6. Iamachkine,Anastasia (PEPP) vs. Samantha Li (UNLV) 6-3, 5-0, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #1 Lahey, Ashley/Levashova, Evgeniya (PEPP) def. Aiwen Zhu/En-Pei Huang (UNLV) 6-2
2. #43 Failla, Jessica/Iamachkine,Anastasia (PEPP) vs. Izumi Asano/Connie Li (UNLV) 5-2, unfinished
3. Milovanovic, Dzina/Lekaj, Adrijana (PEPP) def. Samantha Li/Alex Kalachova (UNLV) 6-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,5,4)