Feb. 9, 2011

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's golf team aims to complete a decade of dominance in the West Coast Conference this spring, as the Waves are going for their 10th consecutive league title in 2011.

Pepperdine, under the direction of 18th-year head coach Laurie Gibbs, also plans on making its 11th appearance at the NCAA Championships in the last 13 years. A seven-player roster that contains experience and depth, not to mention a tremendous amount of talent, has Gibbs excited about the spring season.

"This is a great group and everybody's working hard," said Gibbs, a 10-time WCC Coach of the Year and the 2005 National Coach of the Year. "We're really excited going into our first tournament. We've been doing a lot of work on our short game at our new facility in Alumni Park. Our goal is to have as many shots in our bag that we can play with confidence."

The Waves played in three fall tournaments and improved their finish each time out, culminating with a tie for fourth place at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational. With five regular-season events in the spring season, Gibbs is confident in her team's ability to continue to get better and raise the squad's national ranking.

"As we prepare for the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, we expect to have a good finish and beat some higher ranked teams," Gibbs said. "The wonderful weather has given us the opportunity to practice daily and we've been working really hard. We've traditionally done well at the Regional Challenge. Our goal is to have a good finish against a strong field at the Regional Challenge and at the Bruin Wave Invitational."

Sophomore Danielle Kang (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake HS) will be at the top of the Waves' lineup. The winner of last summer's Women's U.S. Amateur and a member of the United States' second-place team at the World Amateur Team Championships in Argentina, Kang is looking to build on a freshman season that saw her earn All-American second team honors from Golfweek. Kang played in two fall tournaments, posting sixth and 19th place finishes and a 72.17 stroke average.

"Danielle really wants to continue to show that she's the number one amateur," Gibbs said. "She's working on the little things that will help her be more consistent throughout each tournament. She has the talent to go out and win any tournament, she's that capable. The World Amateur was a big revelation for her. The U.S. was playing great but Korea was awesome in winning. She said the Koreans hit it well, but they had tons of shots in their bag and could do anything around the green. That opened her eyes a little bit and helped her with the maturing of her own game. She's open to learning and expanding her game, which is huge."

The Waves' lineup also includes senior Taylore Karle (Scottsdale, Ariz./Laurel Spring Academy), who's having one of the top careers in the program's history. She averaged 74.89 strokes in her three tournaments last fall, and her career average of 74.45 ranks seventh in Pepperdine history. Karle was an All-American second teamer as a freshman and is looking to finish her career with that kind of status again.

"Taylore's had a great career," Gibbs said. "She wants to finish strong and knows a good final semester of college golf will help her with the transition to turning professional. She has a lot of experience and is a great senior leader who has helped the freshmen a lot. I expect great things from her this spring."

The Waves' other senior, Martine de Gannes (Diego Martin, Trinidad/Maple Leaf International School), has filled a valuable role both on and off the course. She's co-President of Pepperdine's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was in the lineup for each of the three fall tournaments. de Gannes has played in 17 tournaments in her career. She also took part in the World Amateur Team Championships last October.

"Martine is really confident and she's hitting the ball really well," Gibbs said. "She wants to enjoy her final semester, and sometimes that takes the pressure off. She's really excited to get out there and she is very proud to represent Pepperdine."

Junior Kaitlin Drolson (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) has gained tremendous experience over the last three years, which includes qualifying for two Women's U.S. Opens. She's appeared in 24 career tournaments for the Waves heading into the spring and has had six top-10 and nine top-20 finishes while averaging 75.63 strokes.

"Kaitlin's a grinder," Gibbs said. "She got a new set of clubs over the Christmas break and is ready to shoot some great scores. She feels more confident striking the ball and is getting some more distance. She's always had a really good short game. I think we'll see a lot of good things out of Kaitlin."

Three freshmen are also looking to make their mark at Pepperdine. Liv Cheng (Auckland, New Zealand/Macleans College) played in all three tournaments in the fall while Danielle Gillaspy (Santa Maria, Calif./St. Joseph's HS) appeared in one. Grace Na (Alameda, Calif./Alameda HS) followed in Kang's footsteps, graduating from high school a semester early in order to enroll in January and get an early start to her college golf career. Na won the California CIF State Championship in the fall.

"All the freshmen are great," said Gibbs, who is assisted by Saki Uechi. "Grace is very talented and has fit in very quickly even though she just graduated from high school. She did so much extra work to get here. Liv has the experience of one semester of college golf and she's past the transition of coming from another country. She did very well in school, and she's maturing and acclimating very well. Danielle made a big step from high school to college golf, and she feels good and is ready to go."

Pepperdine's spring tournaments are the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (Feb. 14-16), the Pepperdine and UCLA co-hosted Bruin Wave Invitational (Feb. 28-March 2 at Robinson Ranch Golf Club in Santa Clarita, Calif.), the UNLV Spring Invitational (March 7-9), the Battle at the Rancho Bernardo Inn (March 20-22) and the PING/Arizona State Invitational (March 20-22).

The Waves will defend their WCC title on April 15-16 and compete in NCAA Regional play on May 5-7. The team's goal is to post yet another top-10 finish at the 2011 NCAA Championships (May 17-20 in Bryan, Texas). Pepperdine's eight previous top-10 results include second (2003), third (2006), fourth (2005), fifth (1999), seventh (2007), eighth (2000) and ninth (2002 and 2009).