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MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS | November 11, 2020 | 37
Lahey, Failla finish in ITA Fall Nationals semis
MORGAN DAVENPORT
Pepperdine University
LAKE NONA, Florida – Two
members of the Pepperdine women’s
tennis team completed their
time in the ITA Fall National
Championships as Ashley Lahey
and Jessica Failla finished in
the tournament semifinals while
competing unattached.
RESULTS
ROUND OF 32
Lahey (Unatt.) def. Jaeda Daniel
(Auburn) – 6-2, 6-3
Failla (Unatt.) def. Veronika
Miroshnichenko (LMU) – 6-3,
6-1
ROUND OF 16
Lahey (Unatt.) def. Allie Gretkowski
(Unatt.) – 6-1, 6-2
Failla (Unatt.) def. Adriana
Reami (NC State) – 6-1, 6-2
QUARTERFINALS
Lahey (Unatt.) def. Rebeka
Stolmar (UCF) – 7-5, 7-6(4)
Failla (Unatt.) def. Solymar
Colling (USD) – 6-3, 6-3
SEMIFINALS
Alexa Graham (UNC) def. Lahey
(Unatt.) – 6-0, 6-1
Abbey Forbes (UCLA) def.
Failla (Unatt.) – 6-0, 6-2
RECAP
The pair started off hot through
the first three rounds of the ITA
Fall Nats, defeating highly touted
college players across the country.
In the quarterfinals, Ashley
Lahey defeated hometown hero
Rebeka Stolmar of UCF in a pair
of two grueling sets where Lahey
came out on top 7-5, 7-6(4).
Jessica Failla saw an all-toofamiliar
foe for her semifinal
matchup in San Diego’s Solymar
Colling who Failla defeated in
August for the ITA Summer Nationals
championship. The Wave
took down the Torero yet again
in 6-3, 6-3 fashion en route to the
tournament semifinals.
During last fall’s ITA All-
American Championships, Lahey
beat UNC’s Alexa Graham in the
tournament finals and earned her
third-straight championship trophy.
The tables turned this fall,
however, as Graham got the best
of Lahey, going 6-0, 6-1. Failla
fell in similar fashion, to powerhouse
UCLA’s Abbey Forbes,
6-0, 6-2 to end their time in Florida.
Jessica Failla. SUBMITTED PHOTO
McCarthy, Pepperdine men’s golf win at Rustic Collegiate Classic
ROGER HORNE
Pepperdine University
MOORPARK – Joshua Mc-
Carthy won for the second time
in a month and the Pepperdine
men’s golf team closed out the
fall season with its third victory
in four events as the Waves took
first place at the Rustic Collegiate
Classic on Friday.
Pepperdine had a two-day total
of a 21-under 831 (289-269-273)
at the par-71 Rustic Canyon Golf
Course and finished 22 strokes
better than San Diego.
This tournament was the last
of three West Coast Conferenceonly
events played this fall. Both
McCarthy and the Waves won the
season-opening Pasadera Collegiate
Invitational in early October
against these same four WCC
schools.
The Waves also took first place
at the prestigious East Lake Cup
and finished second against a
strong field at the Maridoe Collegiate
Invitational. It’s the first time
in program history that the Waves
have won three fall tournaments.
All six Waves competing at
this event finished in the top 10.
Of the eight players who ended
up below-par, five of them were
from Pepperdine.
PLAYER SCORES
Senior Joshua McCarthy (Danville/De
La Salle High School)
posted his first college victory on
Oct. 6 at the Pasadera Collegiate
Invitational and his second one
came exactly a month later. Despite
being tied for 17th after the
first round, he bounced back in
a big way to win the tournament
by three shots with a 7-under 206
(75-64-67). His 4-under today was
flawless, with four birdies on 3, 9,
10 and 13. McCarthy had a total of
16 birdies for the tournament, four
more than any other player.
Senior RJ Manke (Lakewood,
Wash./Bellarmine Prep) tied for
second place with a 4-under 209
(71-70-68). His 3-under today
also came without any miscues,
and he posted birdies on 3, 5
and 9 before finishing with nine
consecutive pars. Manke tied for
the tournament lead with 38 pars
overall.
Senior Clay Feagler (Laguna
Niguel/Dana Hills High School)
tied for fifth with a 3-under 210.
His 2-under today included three
birdies and an eagle for the second
consecutive round on the par-
5 ninth hole.
Junior Joe Highsmith (Lakewood,
Wash./Bellarmine Prep)
also tied for fifth with a 3-under
210 (72-67-71). He had three
birdies and an eagle today.
Junior Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis,
Minn./The Blake School)
was eighth with a 1-under 212
(74-69-69). His second straight
2-under included five birdies.
Playing as an individual, senior
Austin Murphy (Morgan Hill/Bellarmine
College Preparatory) finished
10th at 215 (74-72-69). His
2-under today featured five birdies.
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach Michael
Beard said: “After winning at
East Lake, which was such a
prestigious event, it was nice to
come back home and compete
and not have any sort of letdown.
I was a little worried about that.
Our team is very deep and any
chance that they get to play, they
want out to go and prove to themselves
that they belong in the top
five … We’ve got 2 1/2 months
until our next event. Guys will be
Joshua McCarthy. ROGER HORNE/
PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY
playing some amateur events over
the break, but in January we’ll
be starting over and that’s okay.
It’s nice to have a little break
right now. This fall was a good
warmup and a good gauge for
where we’re at after last season
ended in March. With our home
tournament being the first one in
January, I know the guys will be
practicing and getting ready for
our first qualifier so they can be in
the lineup for that event.”
Joshua McCarthy said: “It obviously
feels amazing. This one was
pretty special to me, I got off to
such a poor start in the first round,
I think I was the highest score on
the team, and I wanted to get back
in the second round and help the
team out. I kind of found something
with the swing and found
something with the putter and tried
to keep it going. To turn it around
after the first round means a lot to
me ... I think we feel very happy
about where we’re at. Three wins
for the team and we’ll be looking
for more of the same in the spring.
We’ll have a lot of confidence
coming out of this fall and we’ll be
looking ahead to the spring.”
UP NEXT
The Waves are off until Jan.
25-27, when they host the Southwestern
Invitational presented by
Topgolf at North Ranch Country
Club. This year’s event will be
televised by the Golf Channel.
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: Pepperdine 831;
2. San Diego 853; 3. BYU 856; 4.
Loyola Marymount 870; 5. Saint
Mary’s 874.
Top Individuals: 1. Joshua Mc-
Carthy (Pepperdine) 206; T2. RJ
Manke (Pepperdine) 209; T2. Carson
Lundell (BYU) 209; T2. Andi
Xu (San Diego) 209; T5. Clay
Feagler (Pepperdine) 210; T5. Joe
Highsmith (Pepperdine) 210.