Pepperdine in Action on Wednesday and Saturday in Malibu
3/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. - The #16-ranked Pepperdine women's tennis team hosts two duals in Malibu this week, starting on Wednesday with a 1:30 p.m. match vs. #35 Long Beach State. The Waves then welcome in #7 Cal for an 11 a.m. contest on Saturday.
DUAL 8: #16 Pepperdine (4-3) vs. #35 Long Beach State (8-1) | Wednesday, March 11 | 1:30 p.m. | Malibu, Calif.
DUAL 9: #16 Pepperdine vs. #7 California (9-2) | Saturday, March 14 | 11 a.m. | Malibu, Calif.
COVERAGE: Live scores will be available on Saturday 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 was off last week, enjoying some down time during Spring Break ... The week before, the Waves had the defending NCAA champs against the ropes ... Pepperdine nearly upset #11 UCLA, but settled for the 4-3 loss ... The Waves were up 3-2 after winning the doubles point, but the Bruins denied Pepperdine the dual-clinching fourth point ... #30 Lorraine Guillermo defeated #3 Robin Anderson, while unranked Christine Maddox dispatched #91 Kaitlin Ray in straight sets.
WHAT TO KNOW: The Waves have faced three top-15 ranked teams in 2015, but are still in search of their first win ... All three of Pepperdine's losses this season have been to top-15 teams, including two close 4-3 decisions ... Christine Maddox enters the week on a five-match singles win streak, while Lorraine Guillermo owns a team-best 5-1 record.
LOOKING FURTHER BACK: The Waves captured back-to-back wins over top-25 teams... Despite dropping the doubles point, Pepperdine won five of the six singles matches vs. #25 Texas to win 5-2 ... Their only loss in singles came in three sets ... The Waves fell in doubles against #17 TCU two days later, but continued its dominance in singles ... Pepperdine gave up just 13 games in the six singles matches, winning handily 4-1.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Waves head to Arizona State on March 19 ... The match was originally scheduled for March 1, but was postponed due to weather ... Pepperdine opens West Coast Conference play in Malibu vs. Gonzaga (3/22).
WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Michaela Capannolo was the year's first player of the week honoree (Feb. 18) ... Lorraine Guillermo has been voted WCC Singles Player of the Week twice (Feb. 24, March 3) ... Matea Cutura and Christine Maddox have earned WCC Doubles Team of the Week honors once (Feb. 24).
WCC PRESEASON POLL: The defending West Coast Conference champion Waves were picked to finish first in the WCC this year in a poll of the league's coaches. Pepperdine tallied 79 points and seven first-place votes to finish six points ahead of Saint Mary's (73, 1 first-place vote). BYU snagged the remaining two first-place votes to finish third behind 66 points. The remaining standings are as follows: 4. San Francisco (53); 5. San Diego (43); 6. Santa Clara (39); 7. Portland (35); 8. Gonzaga (28); 9. Loyola Marymount (19); 10. Pacific (13). The 2015 All-WCC Preseason team was comprised of Pepperdine's Lorraine Guillermo, along with Lucia Butkovska (Portland), Danielle Flores (Saint Mary's), Mayci Jones (BYU), Andrea Ka (San Francisco) and Maja Mladenovic (Portland).
IN THE RANKINGS: The Waves opened the 2015 dual season at #26 in the ITA team rankings and currently sit at #16 ... Senior Lorraine Guillermo began her final campaign ranked a career-best #17 in singles, but dropped to #41 in the second singles rankings installment of the season. She is now back up to #30 ... Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai and Michaela Capannolo made their season debuts at #109 and #118, respectively, on Feb. 10 ... Runglerdkriangkrai is up to a career-high #96.
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.
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.
