Sept. 10, 2014 Tournament Notes 
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's tennis team opens the 2014-15 season with the Napa Valley Collegiate Invitational on Sept. 12-14. This is the Waves' first tournament under the direction of new head coach Marcelo Ferreira.
TOURNAMENT 1: Pepperdine at the Napa Valley Collegiate Invitational | September 12-14 | Napa, Calif.
EVENT INFO: The three-day tournament will be contested at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif.
THE FIELD: The Waves will face student-athletes from West Coast Conference rivals Pacific and San Francisco, as well as Hawaii, Fresno State, UNLV and Oklahoma State ... Freshmen Logan Hall and Jonah Kral will be making their collegiate debuts ... Sophomore Alexander Solonin and senior Rakshay Thakkar will also be representing the Waves.
COVERAGE: Recaps and results will be posted on www.PepperdineSports.com daily ... Any available score updates will be posted on Twitter at @PeppTennis.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Waves continue to fall schedule next weekend, Sept. 19-21, with the Princeton Invitational.
Marcelo Ferreira: Marcelo Ferreira, after serving as the Waves' associate head coach in 2013-14, was elevated to head coach in July 2014 ... Ferreira is now the 14th head coach in the program's storied history, dating back to the 1940s ... This is the Brazilian native's first appointment as head coach after spending the last eight years as either an assistant or associate head coach ... He is assisted this season by Rodrigo da Silva.
2014 SEASON RECAP: The Pepperdine men's tennis team went 17-13 in 2014, finishing second in both the West Coast Conference regular-season and tournament championships ... Senior Alex Sarkissian, unseeded at the NCAA Singles Championship, made program history by becoming just the third Wave ever to reach the finals ... He was dubbed an ITA All-American in singles and in doubles after reaching the NCAA Doubles Championship quarterfinal alongside Francis Alcantara.
#PURPOSE: The Pepperdine University Department of Athletics is committed to Christian values, to the academic well-being of all of our student-athletes and to competing for championships ... We prepare students for success by challenging them to think differently - find your purpose, serve others and lead by example ... The Competing with Purpose campaign highlights the commitment to our core values that student-athletes, coaches and staff dedicate themselves to daily ... Competing with Purpose provides the foundation on which champions are built.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE: Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports -- one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat -- and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 23 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #57 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
