Pepperdine Garners Three WCC Player of the Month Awards
12/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Dec. 8, 2011
MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine's Sebastian Fanselow, Lorraine Guillermo and Kim Hill were awarded West Coast Conference Player of the Month honors, it was announced today by the league office. Fanselow and Guillermo garnered recognition for their accomplishments during the month of November in men's and women's tennis, while Hill was awarded in the sport of women's volleyball for the second-consecutive month.
Pepperdine won three of the possible nine categories to lead all conference schools. Saint Mary's followed with two, while Portland, BYU, San Diego and Loyola Marymount rounded out November's award winners.
Fanselow (Essen, Germany/Kaplan College Prep), now in his junior season, went 1-1 during the month of November while competing at the USTA/ITA Indoor National Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing, N.Y Fanselow, ranked #10 in the ITA preseason singles rankings, won his first-round match versus Tsvetan Mihov of Oklahoma, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to set up a meeting with #3-ranked Eric Quigley of Kentucky.
After dropping the first set by a single break, 6-4, Fanselow evened the score with a 6-4 win in the second. In the deciding third set, Quigley edged Fanselow 6-4 to advance to the Round of 16.
Fanselow concludes his fall campaign with a 7-4 record, including four wins over ranked opponents.
This is Fanselow's first Singles Player of the Month award of the 2011-12 season and third time overall.
Freshman Guillermo (Walnut, Calif./Rowland HS) went a perfect 3-0 at the Mission Hills Desert Classic to finish her rookie fall season with a team-best 9-3 record in singles.
Guillermo opened the tournament with a thrilling three-set triumph versus Alison Ramos of USC. In the follow up match, she took a 3-0 lead before Washington's Capucine Gregoire was forced to retire. In her final match of the weekend, and ultimately the fall, she logged a 6-4, 6-1 win against Gregoire's teammate, Samantha Smith.
Guillermo brings a five-match win streak into the dual season, which opens on Jan. 25 versus San Diego State.
This is the first Singles Player of the Month honor for Guillermo. She was awarded WCC Doubles Team of the Month with partner Khunpak Issara (Bangkok, Thailand/World Study Centre) in September.
Opposite side hitter Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) led the Pepperdine women's volleyball team to a 5-1 record during the month of November with a hefty 4.89 kills/set earned on a .426 hitting percentage. In her 188 attack attempts, Hill tacked down 93 kills and committed just 13 hitting errors.
The senior delivered a well-rounded performance with 2.79 digs/set, 1.00 blocks/set and 0.42 service aces/set.
During the month of November, the Waves (24-6, 15-1 WCC) logged four shutouts, and clinched their first West Coast Conference title since the 2003 season with a 3-1 victory over San Francisco at home.
Hill was awarded WCC Player of the Week honors twice and was ultimately honored as the Player of the Year in a vote of the league's coaches.
Pepperdine continues its postseason run on Friday, Dec. 9 with a 7 p.m. (PT) match versus Kansas State in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
