Oct. 30, 2017 Notes
MALIBU, Calif. " The Pepperdine women's tennis team closes out the 2017-18 fall campaign with both the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships and Jack Kramer Club Invitational this week in California.
Ashley Lahey and Mayar Sherif earned a bid into the Oracle ITA Fall Nationals after making it to the ITA Southwest Regional finals match, while Dzina Milovanovic and Laura Gulbe will compete in the Jack Kramer Invitational.
ORACLE ITA NATIONAL FALL CHAMPIONSHIPS: Wednesday-Monday (November 1-5) at Indian Wells Tennis Garden and JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Indian Wells, Calif. and Palm Desert, Calif. | Hosted by ITA.
JACK KRAMER CLUB INVITATIONAL: Thursday-Monday (November 2-5) at Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.
COVERAGE: Updates will be provided after each full day of competition. Recaps and results will be posted on www.PepperdineWaves.com daily. Any and all available score updates will be posted on Twitter at @WavesTennis. The tournament webpage for the Oracle ITA Fall National Championships can be found here: http://gowav.es/2yhmNRR; and for the Jack Kramer can be found here: http://gowav.es/2hqa3OC.
LOOKING AHEAD: After this weekend, the Waves will have the rest of the fall off, coming back on January 17 to open the spring with the Hawai'i Invitational in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
EVENT INFO: The Oracle ITA National Fall Championships will include 128 of the nation's top collegiate singles players (64 men and 64 women) and 64 doubles teams (32 men's teams and 32 women's teams). The event replaces the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships from previous seasons.
The annual Jack Kramer Club Invitational, featuring a round of 128 singles and a round of 64 doubles for both men and women, will take place in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. from November 2-5 at the Jack Kramer Club.
PEPPERDINE PRESENCE: The Waves are sending two competitors to each tournament. No. 3 Ashley Lahey and No. 13 Mayar Sherif earned the bid to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships and will compete in the singles draw. No. 66 Laura Gulbe and Dzina Milovanovic will play in the Jack Kramer Invitational in both the singles and doubles draw.
THE FIELD: There are 64 women scheduled to play in the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships singles draw, with 50 of those competitors nationally ranked in the Oracle/ITA rankings (46 singles/4 freshman newcomers). 12 of the top 15 ranked nationally earned bids to the tournament, including top-ranked Ena Shibahara of UCLA, No. 2 Gabriela Talaba of Texas Tech, No. 3 Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine, No. 4 Sara Daavettila of North Carolina and No. 5 Karla Popovic of California. The field for the Jack Kramer Club Invitational has not yet been released.
ORACLE ITA NATIONAL FALL CHAMPIONSHIPS SELECTION CRITERIA: Singles (64 draw)
- 1 Oracle ITA Masters Champion
- 1 Milwaukee Tennis Classic Champion
- 8 ITA All-American Quarterfinalists
- 2 ITA All-American Consolation Finalists
- 24 ITA Regional Championships Presented by Oracle Finalists
- 4 ITA Oracle Cup Divisional Champions (Division II, Division III, NAIA, JUCO)
- 1 Oracle Wild Card
- 2 ITA Wild Cards
- 21 At-Large Selections
ITA SOUTHWEST REGIONAL: For the third-consecutive season, the Waves have won the ITA Southwest Regional singles draw. Ashley Lahey won the tournament for the second straight year, and this season she faced fellow Wave Mayar Sherif in the final match-up to earn them both a bid to the Oracle ITA Fall National Championship. Lahey won the tournament with wins against Alaina Miller (UCLA), Sydney Van Alphen (USC), Elisabeta Volodko (UCSB), Eva Voracek (LMU), Avan Broomfield (UCLA) and Mayar Sherif (Pepperdine). Sherif reached the final after collecting victories over Calota Casasampere (LBSU), Becca Weissmann (USC), Lena Pacholski (LBSU), No. 73 Jada Hart (UCLA) and Veronika Miroshnichenko (LMU).
Lahey and Sherif were joined in the opening rounds of the tournament by Laura Gulbe and Dzina Milovanovic. Gulbe was downed in the round of 32, while Milovanovic reached the quarterfinals before falling.
ORACLE/ITA MASTERS: Pepperdine had three singles competitors compete at the Pepperdine and Malibu Racquet Club-hosted Oracle/ITA Masters in Malibu last week. No. 13 Mayar Sherif, No. 16 Jessica Failla and No. 66 Laura Gulbe all competed for the Waves in singles, along with showings in the mixed doubles tournament. Sherif highlighted the singles draw after winning through for a spot in the semifinal match. She downed South Alabama's Alexandria Stiteler and LMU's No. 10 (freshman/newcomer) Veronica Miroshnichenko handily in two sets to reach the quarterfinals. She then downed No. 95-ranked Celia Ruiz of East Carolina 6-2, 6-3 to earn a spot in the semifinal against UNC's No. 6 (freshman/newcomer) Alle Sanford, falling in a tough three-set battle. Failla and Gulbe each bested their first round opponents before facing tough competition in the second round and bowing out of the tournament.
In mixed doubles, Sherif and Pepperdine men's tennis player Dennis Uspensky reached the quarterfinals after victories against South Alabama/Appalachian State and Northern Kentucky/UC Santa Barbara. In the quarterfinals, the pair fell to the No. 3-seed from Duke and Baylor.
A GLANCE AT 2016-17: In the 2016-17 season, the Waves posted a 24-5 overall record and marked a second-consecutive appearance in the NCAA National Championship quarterfinals. Pepperdine also marked the fifth-consecutive WCC Tournament Championship title as well as the sixth-straight regular season crown. As a team, Pepperdine produced a .689 overall singles winning percentage with a 146-66 overall record. The team also posted a .686 winning percentage in doubles with a 72-33 overall record.
ORACLE/ITA PRESEASON RANKINGS: The Waves rank 8th nationally in the Oracle/ITA final rankings from the 2016-17 season. The team has four singles and two doubles partnerships ranked. Sophomore Ashley Lahey, senior Mayar Sherif and junior transfer Jessica Failla rank No. 3, No. 13 and No. 16 nationally in singles, while Gulbe ranks No. 66. In doubles, Sherif and Lahey rank 10th nationally, while Failla and junior Dzina Milovanovic rank No. 39th nationally.
NILSSON: Per Nilsson returned to Pepperdine in June 2014 to succeed Gualberto Escudero as head coach of the women's tennis team. In his three years with the Waves, he has been named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year on three-consecutive occasions. In 2016 and 2017, he led the Waves to a NCAA Championship quarterfinal appearances and #9 and #8 final ranking in the ITA/Oracle rankings respectively. 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.
#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 25 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 No. 46 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
