Women's Tennis Meets SMU in NCAA 1st Round
5/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
THE FACTS - The Pepperdine women's tennis team was on the bubble for the 2010 NCAA Championships, but extended its streak of appearances as possibly one of the last teams into the tournament. The Waves are headed to Palo Alto this weekend for a first-round match against SMU.
FIRST ROUND - Friday (May 14) at the Taube Tennis Center in Palo Alto, Calif.: #43 Pepperdine (12-13) vs. #31 SMU (23-4) at 11 a.m. It's followed by #8 Stanford (20-1) vs. Fairfield (19-5) at 2 p.m.
SECOND ROUND - The winners of the first-round matches will play on Saturday (May 15) at 3 p.m.
2010 NCAA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS - Sixteen teams will advance to the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., from May 20-25.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY - Pepperdine is making its 23rd consecutive NCAA postseason appearance (14th straight not including regionals). The Waves have advanced as far as the quarterfinals on four occasions: 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1994. The Waves won their first-round match for seven straight years from 2002-08, but had that streak end in 2009 against Texas.
SMU/STANFORD/FAIRFIELD - This is the second time that Pepperdine has been sent to Palo Alto for the first and second rounds. In 2002, the Waves beat Long Beach State and then lost to the Cardinal. Pepperdine and SMU have never met in the NCAA Tournament. The Waves have a 5-2 edge in the all-time series, but the Mustangs won the last meeting in 2009. Stanford has won all three matchups with Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament, including the 1994 quarterfinals and 1995 Round of 16. Earlier this season, the Cardinal posted a 6-1 victory in Malibu. Pepperdine and Fairfield have never met.
ITA RANKINGS - Pepperdine is currently #43 in the ITA team rankings and has been as high as #35 and as low as #54. Arianna Colffer is #100 in singles and the team of Anamika Bhargava and Marie Zalameda is #72 in doubles.
WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS - Pepperdine was unable to win the WCC title for only the second time in the last 23 years. After beating Portland and San Diego by 4-0 scores, the Waves lost 4-1 to top-seeded Saint Mary's. The Waves are now 46-2 at the WCC Championships since it went to a team dual-match format. They had a 23-match win streak at the event come to an end in the final.
ALL-WCC HONORS - Anamika Bhargava, a junior, was named to her third straight All-WCC first team in both singles and doubles. The awards were introduced in 1997, and next season, she will have a chance to become just Pepperdine's second four-time first teamer in either singles or doubles (and possibly the first person to do both). Bhargava was joined on the first team in singles by Arianna Colffer. Ali Walters was on the second team while Andrea Oates and Marie Zalameda were honorable mention. For doubles, Zalameda and Bhargava were Pepperdine's only recipients and they made the first team.
OTHER HONORS - The Waves earned the WCC Player of the Month award for doubles in each of the three months it was given. Anamika Bhargava and Marie Zalameda shared the award with Saint Mary's in April and won it outright in March. Andrea Oates and Ali Walters captured the honor in February.
GUALBERTO ESCUDERO - The dean of all Pepperdine coaches is Gualberto Escudero, who is in his 33rd season at the helm of the Pepperdine women's tennis program. He has a career record of 588-299 (.663) and has led Pepperdine to the NCAA postseason on 27 occasions, including each of the last 23 seasons. The Waves have dominated the WCC under his leadership, winning 21 titles. Twenty-nine of his 32 teams have posted winning records. His players have won 29 All-American honors while being named to the All-WCC first team 36 times in singles and 19 times in doubles.
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.
