Waves Host USC on Friday
1/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. - After opening the 2015 dual season at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the Pepperdine women's tennis team plays at home for the first time on Friday, January 30, welcoming in USC. The Waves and Trojans, who last played one another less than a week ago, begin action at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center at 1:30 p.m.
DUAL 3: #30 Pepperdine (1-1) vs. #14 USC (3-0) | Friday, January 30 | 1:30 p.m. | Malibu, Calif.
COVERAGE: Live scoring coverage will be available on Friday through PepperdineSports.com ... Updates can be followed on Twitter @PeppWTEN ... Links to available coverage can always be found on the women's tennis schedule page at PepperdineSports.com
LOOKING BACK: Pepperdine went 1-1 at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, held last week at USC ... The Waves relied on the heroics of freshman Laura Gulbe in their 4-3 win over Wichita State ... Gulbe and doubles partner Christine Maddox won 7-5 to clinch the doubles point ... Michaela Capannolo won in straight sets, followed by Lorraine Guillermo with a 7-4 triumph in the third set tiebreaker ... With the team score tied 3-3, Gulbe provided the difference maker, winning 7-5 in the third ... The Waves fell to top-15 USC the following day, 4-0.
LOOKING AHEAD: Pepperdine hits the road next week for one dual at San Diego State on Friday, Feb. 6 ... The Waves remain in Malibu for the rest of the month, hosting Texas (Feb. 14), TCU (Feb. 16) and UCLA (Feb. 27).
IN THE RANKINGS: The Waves opened the 2015 dual season at #26 in the ITA team rankings and were moved to #30 in the latest installment ... Senior Lorraine Guillermo begins her final campaign ranked a career-best #17 in singles.
OPPONENT RANKINGS: USC is ranked #14 as a team ... They were listed at #15 last week ... Six Trojans are ranked in singles including Giuliana Olmos (#41), Zoe Scandalis (#44), Madison Westby (#45), Gabby Smith (#48), Gabriella DeSimone (#98) and Zoe Katz (#119) ... Olmos and Scandalis are #14 in doubles, while the pairing of Olmos and Smith are ranked #48.
LINEUP: Lorraine Guillermo has played at No. 1 singles since her sophomore season, where she has gone 30-14 overall ... Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai made the biggest jump in the lineup, going from No. 6 last year as a freshman to No. 2 this season ... Laura Gulbe has been playing from No. 3, followed by Michaela Capannolo, Christine Maddox and Danielle Feneridis ... Guillermo and Runglerdkriangkrai have resumed doubles play together at No. 1 ... Maddox and Gulbe have been found at No. 2, while Capannolo and Feneridis pair up at No. 3 doubles.
TOURNAMENT SEASON: Pepperdine combined for a 38-26 singles record and an 18-9 doubles record during the tournament portion of the season ... Lorraine Guillermo posted a team-best 14-3 singles record, followed by Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai at 10-5 ... Together in doubles, they went 8-2.
Per Nilsson: Per Nilsson returned to Pepperdine in June 2014 to succeed Gualberto Escudero as head coach of the women's tennis team ... He was an assistant coach for the Pepperdine men's tennis team from 2003-07 under head coach Adam Steinberg, where the Waves went 119-38 in those five seasons ... Pepperdine won the NCAA team championship in 2006 with Nilsson on the sidelines ... He was the head men's coach at Mississippi State, his alma mater, for seven seasons from 2008-2014 ... Nilsson compiled a record of 95-76 during his time at MSU.
Gualberto Escudero - Gualberto Escudero ended the 2013-14 campaign with a career record of 651-334 (.661) in his final season as head coach ... He ranks second among all NCAA Div. I women's tennis coaches -- active or inactive -- for his win total, and is just one of three coaches to reach the 600 wins milestone ... He stepped down at the end of the 2014 season and now serves as associate head coach ... Escudero took over as head coach in 1977-78 after a decorated career as a student-athlete at Pepperdine ... On the court, he was a finalist at the 1969 WCAC singles tournament and won the doubles title with John Lovelace ... Pepperdine won conference titles in 1969 and 1970 and finished second the next two seasons ... His transition from player to coach was a successful one as Escudero has tutored 31 All-Americans, and was honored as WCC Coach of the Year on four occasions ... Escudero was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Oct. 20 , 2013.
2014 SEASON RECAP: The Pepperdine women's tennis team went 19-5 in 2014, winning both the West Coast Conference regular-season and tournament championships ... The Waves set a new program record with 15 consecutive wins ... The previous record was set at 14 consecutive dual match victories in 1999 ... Pepperdine ended the 2014 regular-season with a 9-0 record at home, marking just the second season in program history the Waves have gone undefeated at home in single year ... Lorraine Guillermo was an All-WCC first team selection in both singles and doubles ... Ale Granillo and Matea Cutura were All-WCC second team picks in singles and together in doubles ... Guillermo was joined by Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai as a first-team doubles honoree ... Michaela Capannolo and Yuki Chiang were also voted to the All-WCC second team in doubles and went on to reach the second round of the NCAA Doubles Championship.
#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 #54 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
