Men's Tennis Opens Dual Season Against Irvine Thursday
1/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
UPCOMING — The No. 17 Pepperdine men’s tennis team opens its dual season this week with matches against UC Irvine, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and University of the Pacific.
MATCH #1 PEPPERDINE vs. UC IRVINE — Thursday, (Jan. 24), at 1 p.m., at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, in Malibu, Calif.
MATCH #2 PEPPERDINE vs. CAL POLY SAN LUIS OPISBO — Saturday, (Jan. 26), at 9 a.m., at Ralphs-Strauss Tennis Center, in Malibu, Calif.
MATCH #3 PEPPERDINE vs. PACIFIC — Saturday, (Jan. 26), at 2 p.m., at Ralphs-Strauss Tennis Center, in Malibu, Calif.
UC IRVINE— Head Coach Trevor Kroneman begins his second season with the Anteaters. In his first season, Kronemann finished 11-12 overall and had seven players earn All-Big West honors.
Senior Victor Lamm is ranked 30th in the West Region by the ITA. Lamm finished last season with a 15-17 record and was named to the All-Big West second team.
CAL POLY SAN LUIS OBISPO — Head Coach Justin McGrath leads the Mustangs (1-1) in his second season at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. In 2006-07, McGrath led the team to a 4-0 conference record and gave the Mustangs their first regular season conference title ever.
Cal Poly defeated Westmont (Jan.19) 7-0 and suffered a loss to No. 69 Fresno State (Jan. 20) 5-2 at the Wathen Tennis Center, in San Luis Obispo.
PACIFIC — The University of the Pacific opens its season against the Waves. Head Coach Guido Baumann leads the Tigers.
The Tigers finished the 2006-07 season 3-18.
WAVES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS — The Pepperdine men’s tennis team is ranked No. 17 in the nation, according to the ITA rankings, released in Jan. 2008.
Individually, three Waves made the top 100 collegiate singles player rankings. Sophomore Bassam Beidas (Cairo, Egypt) is ranked No. 13. Senior Andre Begemann (Blomberg, Germany) is No. 22, and junior Omar Altmann is ranked No. 66. Sophomore James Lemke (Melbourne, Australia) holds the No. 73 spot.
OMAR ALTMANN — No. 66 junior Omar Altmann and teammate James Lemke claimed the championship title of the doubles division at the 51st Southern California Intercollegiate Championships this fall.
Altmann advanced to the finals of the 51st Southern California Intercollegiate Championships, before being defeated by teammate, Lemke. Altmann finished the fall season with a 5-4 singles record and a 4-1 doubles record.
BASSAM BEIDAS — No. 13 Sophomore Bassam Beidas was named 2007 WCC Freshman of the Year. Beidas qualified for the ITA Indoor Championships after winning the consolation round of the ITA Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championship. He advanced to the quarterfinals of ITA Indoor Championships after defeating nationally ranked Erling Tveit (Miss.).
Beidas finished the season with a 7-3 singles record and a 3-1 doubles record.
ANDRE BEGEMANN — No. 22 Senior Andre Begemann was tabbed a 2007 All-American. Begemann claimed the ITA Division I Regional Singles Title this Fall, after the tournament was forced to relocate from Malibu to USC and UCLA due to wildfires. Begemann finished the fall season with a 7-3 singles record and 4-1 doubles record, with partner Omar Altmann.
JAMES LEMKE — No. 73 James Lemke won the singles title at the 51st Southern California Intercollegiate Championships after defeating teammate Omar Altmann, this fall. Lemke and Altmann paired up to claim the double title at the same tournament.
Lemke finished the fall season with a 10-1 singles record and a 7-3 doubles record.
COACH ADAM STEINBERG — Coach Adam Steinberg begins his sixth season as the head coach for the Pepperdine men’s tennis team. As head of the program, he has led the Waves to an overall record of 96-25, with five consecutive conference championships and postseason appearances.
Steinberg led the Waves to its first National Tiltle and the University’s ninth overall after upsetting Georgia, 4-2, in the final match.
ASSISTANT COACH NICK CARLESS — Coach Carless was a volunteer assistant coach for Pepperdine men’s tennis team that won the NCAA championship in 2006.
Carless spent last year coaching at Northwestern as an assistant coach.
THE RALPHS STRAUS CENTER — The Ralphs Strauss Center is home to the Pepperdine men’s tennis team. The center consists of a nine court, fully lighted facility with seating for approximately 2,000 spectators.
In 1995, the Center served as the host site for the 1995 and 2000 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships.
The Center is known for its beautiful spectator patio that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.
WAVES IN THE PRO’S — Pepperdine alum Brad Gilbert, a 1982 All-American, won 20 major tournaments as a professional and was ranked as high a No. 4 in the world in 1990. Gilbert went on to coach Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick to Grand Slam titles and is currently coaching Britains Andy Murray.
Glen Michibata was a three-time All-American for Pepperdine. He played professional tennis for ten years rising to No. 48 in the world in 1986. He is currently in his eighth year as Princeton’s head men’s tennis coach.
