Nov. 9, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's tennis team has reached the end of the fall tournament season, and has saved perhaps the most unique tournament for last: the Lakewood Ranch Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic. David Sofaer and Finn Tearney will represent the Waves in Sarasota, Fla. on Nov. 12-14.
The three-day event will pit Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia) and Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand) versus talent from Arizona, Notre Dame, Miami, Baylor, Ole Miss, Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Alabama, Tulane, Florida Gulf Coast, Troy State and Mississippi State.
The opportunity to complete on the clay surface is rare in collegiate tennis, as the vast majority of competition takes place on hard courts.
"It's a completely different game," explainedsSoafer, a freshman who boasts a 5-1 singles record. "The rallies are typically longer when you play on clay, so you have to construct your points well."
"If your caught out of position, your shot selection becomes very limited -- more so than when your playing on a hard court," added Tearney, who is 8-4 overall including 3-1 versus ranked opponents, "So this tournament will definitely test our mentality, and help us learn to make good shot selections."
"Hopefully playing on the clay courts this weekend will add a different dimension to our game," continued Sofaer, "and open our eyes to different types of shots so that ultimately we learn how to use the hard courts better."
This is the final tournament of what has been an extremely successful fall season. Sebastian Fanselow (Essen, Germany) won the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championships. In addition, both Fanselow and Tearney advanced to the singles main draw at the ITA/D'Novo All-American Championships. As a team, the Waves went 61-26 (.701) in singles, while finishing with 16 wins in doubles action.
Full results and recaps will be available at www.PepperdineSports.com following the conclusion of each day's competition.
LOOKING AHEAD - This is the final tournament of fall season for the Waves. Pepperdine resumes the 2010-11 campaign on Jan. 22 with a home dual versus UC Santa Barbara.
ON THE WEB — Full results and recaps can be found at www.PepperdineSports.com. Follow Pepperdine on Twitter at PeppSports for all the latest updates.
WCC PLAYER OF THE MONTH - OCTOBER - The Waves swept the singles and doubles player of the month awards for the month of October. Sebastian Fanselow was given the recognition for his work on the singles court after winning the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championship. Finn Tearney and Alex Llompart share WCC Doubles Players of the Month honors with Dean Jackson and Patrick Pohlmann of San Diego. The Wave pair reached the semifinals of the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championships and were 3-1 during the month.
USTA/ITA SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - Fanselow won an impressive six singles matches in a row to win the title at the 2010 regional championships. The sophomore came back from a 5-1 deficit in the first set of the championship match to win in the tiebreaker and roll to a straight-set victory over top seeded Daniel Nguyen of USC.
USTA/ITA NATIONAL INDOOR INTERCOLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIPS - Fanselow competed well at the national event held in the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The sophomore opened with a thrilling three-set win over No. 27 Drew Courtney, before bowing out in the Round of 16.
WCC PLAYER OF THE MONTH - SEPTEMBER - Hugh Clarke and Finn Tearney were named the co-WCC Doubles Players of the Month for their dominance at the UNLV Invitational to open the 2010-11 campaign. The pair opened the season with an 8-6 win over the No. 13-ranked tandem of Rikus deVilliers and Remi Boutillier of Fresno State. This is the second time the Pepperdine duo has been named the leagues doubles pair of the month, and third overall for Tearney.
ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - Finn Tearney and Sebastian Fanselow fought their way through the qualifying draw of the ITA/D'Novo All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. on Oct. 2-10 to both earn a bid to the singles main draw. This marks the first time the Waves have seen two players enter the main event by way of the qualifying bracket. Fanselow advanced to the second round before falling to the No. 2-ranked singles player in NCAA Div. I.
SOLID START - The Waves got the 2010-11 season off on right foot, collecting nine singles wins and five doubles victories at the Las Vegas Invitational. Pepperdine faced fierce talent from Kentucky, UNLV and Fresno State -- all of whom concluded last season in the Campbell/ITA team rankings. Perhaps the most impressive win was Hugh Clarke and Finn Tearney's 8-6 triumph over No. 13-ranked Remi Boutillier and Rikus deVilliers of Fresno State. While Tearney holds a doubles ranking of No. 26 when partnered with Alex Llompart, he and Clarke remain unranked as a duo.
RANKINGS — The Waves concluded the 2010 season ranked #21 on the Campbell/ITA poll. The first team rankings for the 2011 season are scheduled to be released on January 4, 2011. Individually, three Pepperdine tennis standouts found themselves on the preseason edition of the rankings.
Singles - Rank
Sebastian Fanselow #50
Finn Tearney #113
Doubles - Rank
Alex Llompart/Finn Tearney #26
WHO'S BACK — The Waves have nine letterwinners back from the 2009-10 squad including WCC Freshman of the Year and All-WCC singles player Sebastian Fanselow. All-WCC singles selections Alex Llompart (second team), Mousheg Hovhannisyan (honorable mention) and Finn Tearney (honorable mention) also return, as well as Hugh Clark, an All-WCC doubles honoree.
WHO'S NEW — The Waves welcome Australian David Sofaer to the roster this season. Sofaer was a gold medalist at the 2009 Maccabiah Games in singles and was a silver medalist in doubles. His prep career was highlighted by appearances in the juniors draws at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Adam Steinberg — Now in his ninth season as head coach of the Waves, Adam Steinberg enters the 2010 season with a career record of 306-140 (.686) including a 176-61 (.743) mark at Pepperdine. Since setting foot on the Malibu campus in 2003, Steinberg has captured eight-straight WCC conference championships, eight-consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and an NCAA Championship crown in 2006. He has tutored which includes 10 conference championships and 18 NCAA Tournament appearances. He has tutored 14 Waves to All-American status, and has been named WCC Coach of the Year five times. Prior to coming to Pepperdine, Steinberg served as the head coach at Alabama and St. John's for five seasons apiece. His collegiate days were spent at Penn State, where he served as team captain of the tennis squad during his senior year.
2010 RECAP — It was another solid year for the Pepperdine men's tennis team. The squad collected its 20th consecutive West Coast Conference championships, and 41st overall. For the 21st year in a row, the Waves battled in the NCAA tournament defeating Hawaii before bowing out to Stanford in the second round. In the singles draw, Bassam Beidas advanced to the Round of 16 and earned all-american honors for the third time in his career.
PEPPERDINE TWEETS — To receive all the latest up-to-date information on the Waves, follow the Pepperdine Athletics Twitter at www.twitter.com/peppsports
TENNIS HISTORY — The Pepperdine men's tennis program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power. The Waves have advanced to postseason play 35 times in 37 seasons, including an NCAA championship in 2006. Within the WCC, Pepperdine has dominated the competition, winning 41 conference championships since 1958. On the 12 occasions the Waves did not win the league crown, they finished in second place.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports — one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
