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Women's Tennis

Jan 23, 2026

WTEN: Tigers Grab 4-3 Upset Win Over No. 13 Pepperdine in ITA Kickoff

Knoxville, Tenn. – Clemson Women’s Tennis (4-0) grabbed a 4-3 upset victory Friday afternoon over #13 Pepperdine at the ITA Kickoff. The Tigers claimed the doubles point and then followed with a thrilling slate of singles matches to secure the one-point victory and the first top 15 win under Coach Boomer Saia.
Sophomores Talia Neilson-Gatenby and Artemis Aslanisvili took the first doubles match of the day for the Tigers with a 6-4 win on court two over No. 78 ranked Alexia Harmon and Sonja Zhiyenbayeva. Senior Jade Groen and Freshman Rinon Okuwaki earned the doubles point for Clemson with a thrilling 7-6 tiebreak win to put the Tigers ahead 1-0 in the match.
In singles, the Tigers earned a 7-6, 6-3 victory from Okuwaki on court four over Chantal Sauvant for their second point of the day. Aslanisvili would win her match over Shihomi Li Xuan Leong in three sets (1-6, 6-3, 6-2) on court six to put the Tigers in a 3-3 tie with Pepperdine.
Neilson-Gatenby would secure a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Alexia Harmon to put the Tigers ahead 4-3 and secure the match for Clemson.
UP NEXT: Clemson returns to action Saturday in Knoxville against No. 16 Tennessee at 11 a.m. The winner will advance to the Round of 16 at the ITA Team National Indoor Championships, held in Evanston, Ill. and Champaign, Ill. on Feb. 6-8.

📺 Livestream: Live Video

📊 Live Stats: Live Stats

BOX SCORE:
Doubles (Order of Finish: 3,2,1*):
  1. GROEN/OKUWAKI (CLEM) def. SOKE/FALKNER (PU), 7-6 (5)
  2. SAUVANT/GRECHKINA (PU) def. CISOVSKA/PARRAVICINI (CLEM), 6-3
  3. NEILSON-GATENBY/ASLANISVILI (CLEM) def. #78 HARMON/ZHIYENBAYEVA (PU), 6-4
Singles (Order of Finish: 1,3,4,2,6,5*)
  1. FAULKNER (PU) def. GROEN (CLEM) 6-1, 6-4
  2. #7 GRECHKINA (PU), def. CISOVSKA (CLEM) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
  3. ZHIYENBAYEVA (PU) def. #71 BHAKTA (CLEM) 7-6, 6-1
  4. OKUWAKI (CLEM) def. SAUVANT (PU) 7-6, 6-3
  5. NEILSON-GATENBY (CLEM) def. HARMON (PU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
  6. ASLANISVILI (CLEM) def. LEONG (PU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
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