SAN DIEGO – San Diego Women's Tennis's comeback in the WCC Tournament Final fell just short after a six-hour battle interrupted by a rain delay and a doubles point overthrowing, the Torero fell to rivals Pepperdine, 2-4.
 
To start the title match, after a dropped match on court three, the No. 35 ranked pair of Kailey Evans and Claudia de las Heras evened things out with a powerful 6-4 win on main court, remaining undefeated since Feb. 22.
 
That left the doubles point to underclassman duo Hannah Read and Kristina Nordikyan. The tandem got up a break at 5-4, but were broken back by the Waves. Pepperdine would take the ensuing two games, taking the match at 7-5 and the first point toward the title.
 
In singles competition, the Waves continued to lay it on. First, they took court five in straights, then court three to move their lead to 3-0, a point away from the conference tournament title.
 
The Torero comeback started with a straight set win of their own not long after from freshman Hannah Read, who won 6-3, 6-2 on court four.
 
The remaining three courts went to third sets after first-set Torero wins. On main court, No. 92 de las Heras was undeterred by her dropped second set, powering to a 6-0 third set sweep, moving the score to 3-2.
 
It was then, at approximately 1:30 p.m. that the remaining two matches on courts two and six, early in their first sets, were suspended due to rare San Diego rain. Two and a half hours later, at 4 p.m., the courts were dried, players warmed up again, and play resumed.
 
Both matches came down to the wire, but it was on court two where the Torero comeback would come to an end. At around 4:30 p.m., nearly six hours after the 10:30 a.m. doubles start, Pepperdine's Anastasiia Grechkina took the third set against Evans, 6-4, clinching the match at 4-2.

All-Tournament Team
The Toreros earned four WCC Women's Tennis Championships All-Tournament Team honors following the match for their undefeated efforts in the runner-up finish run: Evans and de las Heras in doubles, de las Heras in singles, Read in singles and fellow freshman Gabby Gregg in singles.
 
Results
No. 48 San Diego 2, No. 27 Pepperdine 4
Doubles
1. #52 Claudia de las Heras/Kailey Evans (USD) def. Grechkina Anastasiia/Harmon Alexia (PEPP) 6-4
2. Oved Liam/Scilipoti Sebastiann (PEPP) def. Kristina Nordikyan/Hannah Read (USD) 7-5
3. Soke Duru/Yang Vivian (PEPP) def. Gabby Gregg/Anni Puls (USD) 6-1
 
Singles
1. #92 Claudia de las Heras (USD) def. Yang Vivian (PEPP) 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
2. #79 Grechkina Anastasiia (PEPP) def. #35 Kailey Evans (USD) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Harmon Alexia (PEPP) def. Kristina Nordikyan (USD) 6-0, 6-4
4. Hannah Read (USD) def. Scilipoti Sebastiann (PEPP) 6-3, 6-2
5. Soke Duru (PEPP) def. Anni Puls (USD) 6-0, 6-3
6. Oved Liam (PEPP) vs. Gabby Gregg (USD) 4-6, 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
 
Match Notes:
San Diego 11-10; National ranking #48
Pepperdine 15-11; National ranking #27
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,3,4,1,2)
Time-6:07 Attendance-254