Lorraine Guillermo Named WCC Player of the Year
4/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
WCC VIDEO RELEASE
MALIBU, Calif. -- The Pepperdine women's tennis team received high regard in this season's All-West Coast Conference awards, released today by the league. Senior Lorraine Guillermo was crowned the WCC Player of the Year, while rookie Laura Gulbe was voted Freshman of the Year. The Waves made it a clean sweep of the major awards, with Per Nilsson taking Coach of the Year honors during his inaugural campaign.
Guillermo (Walnut, Calif./Rowland HS) is by far the topped ranked player in the WCC, coming in at #11 in the latest ITA rankings installment. The senior holds down the No.1 spot in both the singles and doubles lineup, and was a first-team selection in both categories. Guillermo has been an All-WCC first team doubles performer all four seasons, and a first-team pick in singles three times (she was a second-team pick as a freshman).
Guillermo is Pepperdine's fifth WCC Player of the Year, and first since Bianca Dulgheru in 2006.
Gulbe (Riga, Latvia/Murjāņu Sporta Ģimnāzija) follows in Guillermo's footsteps as the 2015 WCC Freshman of the Year, an honor her teammate took in 2012. Gulbe joined the team in January, and has been a solid addition for the Waves. She plays at No. 2 in the singles lineup and has produced a dual-season record of 11-6. In addition to Freshman of the Year honors, Gulbe was also one of six selected to the All-WCC first team singles roster.
Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai (Bangkok, Thailand/IMG Academy) made the first team in both singles and doubles. The sophomore is the second-highest ranked singles player in the league, following Guillermo, and has ranked as high as #78 this spring. Runglerdkriangkrai has tallied 19 wins in 2014-15, and holds down the No. 3 position in the singles lineup. Partnered with Guillermo in doubles at No. 1, the Waves' top duo has gone 16-11 overall this season.
Matea Cutura (Zagreb, Croatia/Gimnazija Birotehnika/DePaul) and Christine Maddox (Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica HS), the highest-ranked team in the WCC at #23, also were awarded first-team status in doubles after an impressive year. The duo is a team-best 12-1, all at No. 2, this year.
Cutura also snagged an honorable mention nod in singles, and enters the WCC Tournament with 12-5 record.
In his first season as the Pepperdine women's head coach, Nilsson was voted the WCC Coach of the Year by his peers. Under Nilsson's leadership, the Waves have ranked as high as #14 and enter the WCC Tournament as the top seed.
Pepperdine opens the WCC Tournament, held at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, on Thursday, April 23 and will face either Pacific or San Diego in the quarterfinals.
2015 ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE
Player of the Year: Lorraine Guillermo, Pepperdine
Freshman of the Year: Laura Gulbe, Pepperdine
Coach of the Year: Per Nilsson, Pepperdine
All-WCC First Team Singles
Katie Edwards, Gonzaga
Lorraine Guillermo, Pepperdine
Laura Gulbe, Pepperdine
Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai, Pepperdine
Lucia Butkovska, Portland
Andrea Ka, San Francisco
All-WCC Second Team Singles
Jessica Perez, LMU
Hana Ritterova, Pacific
Maja Mladenovic, Portland
Danielle Flores, Saint Mary's
Thyra Taune, San Francisco
Delphine Rouvillois, Santa Clara
Singles Honorable Mention: Nicolette Tran, BYU; Toby Miclat, BYU; Savannah Ware, BYU; Morgan Anderson, BYU; Iveta Masarova, Pacific; Matea Cutura, Pepperdine; Jana McCord, Saint Mary's; Jamie Pawid, Saint Mary's; Kareena Manji, Saint Mary's; Drew Spinosa, San Diego; Millica Hadzi-Tanovic, San Francisco
All-WCC First-Team Doubles
Lorraine Guillermo/Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai, Pepperdine
Matea Cutura/Christine Maddox, Pepperdine
Andrea Ka/Marina Nikolic, San Francisco
All-WCC Second-Team Doubles
Jamie Pawid/Kareena Manji, Saint Mary's
Parminder Kaur/Jana McCord, Saint Mary's
Lucia Butkovska/Jelena Lazarevic, Portland
Hana Ritterova/Iveta Masarova, Pacific
Doubles Honorable Mention: Nicolette Tran/Savannah Ware, BYU; Katie Edwards/Samantha Polayes, Gonzaga; Maja Mladenovic/Sophie van den Aarssen, Portland; Drew Spinosa /Dana Oppinger, San Diego; Nabila Farah/Daniella Silva, Santa Clara
Players Mentioned
