Gulbe Added to Women's Tennis Roster
12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine women's tennis head coach Per Nilsson has announced the addition of Laura Gulbe to his roster. The Latvia native is set to join the Waves in January in time for the 2015 dual season.
Gulbe boasts extensive international experience and comes from a family of athletes. Her older brother, Ernests Gulbis, is a professional tennis player and currently ranked #13 in the world. Her grandfather was a professional basketball player who was a starting player for the European Championship-winning ASK Riga squad.
Pepperdine opens the dual season with the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on January 24-25 at USC. The Waves square off against Wichita State to begin the year and will face either USC or Denver the following day.
Here's a more in-depth look at Pepperdine's latest addition:
LAURA GULBE
Riga, Latvia | Murjāņu Sporta Gimnāzija
HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Murjāņu Sporta Ģimnāzija in 2013 ... Won the Latvian Championship several times as a junior player ... Ranked as high as #192 in the ITF Junior Rankings ... Reached the finals of the 2010 and 2011 Portugal G4 tournaments ... Advanced to the quarterfinals of the G2 tournament in Chile ... Represented Latvia in the Fed Cup twice and boasts doubles record of 3-0 ... Reached a career-high WTA ranking of #969 in December of 2014 ... Owns multiple wins over top-500 WTA ranked opponents.
PERSONAL: Daughter of Vineta Gulbe and Ainars Gulbis ... Younger sister to Elina, Ernests and Kristaps ... Brother Ernests Gulbis is a professional tennis player and currently ranked in the top-15 in the world ... Grandfather, Alvils Gulbis, was one of the starting five players for ASK Riga, the Soviet basketball team that won the European Championships in the 1950s ... Cites Muhammad Ali as her biggest sports hero ... Has lived in four countries before the age of 18 ... Also enjoys skiing and cooking.
GULBE ON PEPPERDINE: "I chose Pepperdine because of the great program with highly qualified professors, the incredible location and the ability to compete and play tennis."
NILSSON ON GULBE: "We're obviously excited to welcome Laura to Pepperdine. She is someone who can help our team immediately this spring. Laura felt Pepperdine was a place where we could help her continue to develop both on and off the court and we are excited to begin working with her."
Players Mentioned
