Tennis Teams Rank Highly in WCC Poll
1/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The Pepperdine men, led by eighth-year head coach Adam Steinberg, received seven of the eight first-place votes (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams). The Waves won their 40th overall WCC title last season.
In addition, senior Bassam Beidas (Cairo, Egypt), an All-American in both 2008 and 2009, and sophomore Alex Llompart (Carolina, Puerto Rico), the 2009 WCC Freshman of the Year, were both named to the six-player preseason All-WCC first team.
The Pepperdine women have won seven straight WCC titles, but the Waves and the Gaels each received four first-place votes and 46 points to earn co-favorite status. The Pepperdine women are led by the dean of all Pepperdine coaches, Gualberto Escudero, who is now in his 33rd season in charge of the Waves.
The women also placed two on the six-player preseason All-WCC first team: junior Anamika Bhargava (Collierville, Tenn./Houston HS), a two-time All-WCC first teamer in both singles and doubles, and sophomore Ali Walters (Newport Beach, Calif./Creekside Christian HS/UCLA), who made the All-WCC second team in singles last season.
2010 WCC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
1. Pepperdine - 49 (7)
2. San Diego - 41 (1)
3. San Francisco - 33
4. Santa Clara - 32
5. Loyola Marymount - 24
6. Portland - 21
7. Saint Mary's - 16
8. Gonzaga - 8
(First place votes)
2010 Preseason All-Conference Singles Players
Dean Jackson, USD
Bassam Beidas, PEP
Alex Llompart, PEP
Filip Zivkovic, POR
Ivan Lopez, LMU
Nikola Bubnic, USD
2010 WCC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll
1. Pepperdine - 46 (4)
1. Saint Mary's - 46 (4)
3. San Diego - 37
4. Loyola Marymount - 28
5. San Francisco - 27
6. Santa Clara - 17
7. Portland - 14
8. Gonzaga - 9
(First place votes)
2010 Preseason All-Conference Singles Players
Jenni Heinser, USF
Alex Poorta, SMC
Juliette Coupez, USD
Anamika Bhargava, PEP
Alexandria Walters, PEP
Anna Chikhikvishvili, SMC
