SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — In the wake of the program's eighth consecutive undefeated West Coast Conference season, it was no surprise that the #6 Pepperdine Waves swept all three major all-conference awards and saw six different players earn All-WCC honors.
Pepperdine junior Savannah Broadus was named the 2024 WCC Player of the Year, Jasmine Conway took home WCC Freshman of the Year honors, plus Head Coach Per Nilsson won WCC Coach of the Year honors. In singles, Lisa Zaar (first team), Janice Tjen (first team), Nikki Redelijk (second team) and Anna Campana (honorable mention) earned All-WCC singles awards. Also, the doubles teams of Broadus and Tjen plus Conway and Zaar won All-WCC Doubles First Team awards.
Consistently in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 20 singles rankings, Broadus put together another stellar season in what has been a highly decorated collegiate career. With a team-leading 25 wins overall — including a 14-4 mark in dual match play — Broadus has been automatic for the Waves at the second and third positions in the singles lineup. This season, Broadus has nine wins over nationally ranked opponents, chief among them was a three-set win over then-No. 2 Ange Oby Kajuru of undefeated Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. In the national rankings, Broadus rose to as high as sixth in the ITA singles rankings — a career-best — and is currently ranked 14th.
The junior from Carrollton, Texas gives the Waves four consecutive WCC Players of the Year, joining former top-ranked singles player Ashley Lahey (2021) and teammates Shiori Fukuda (2022) and Tjen (2023). In addition, her third first-team singles selection is her second-straight first-team not and the third all-conference honor of her career.
Becoming the 14th Wave to earn WCC Freshman of the Year honors, Conway has put together a solid debut season for Pepperdine. The true freshman from London, England not only worked her way into the singles lineup as Pepperdine's sixth singles player but also established great chemistry with Zaar in doubles. In singles, Conway clinched Pepperdine's 4-2 win over USC at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships with her 7-6 (8), 6-2 win over McKenna Koenig, plus she capped off Pepperdine's perfect season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Sofia Daryaie of Saint Mary's last weekend. With a 9-6 record in dual match play heading into her first WCC Tournament, Conway currently is on a three-match win streak.
Winning WCC Coach of the Year for the sixth time as the head of Pepperdine's women's tennis program, Nilsson has put together yet another successful season in Malibu. At 15-6 and sixth in the latest ITA team rankings, the Waves rose to as high as third on two occasions, making the Waves the class of not only the non-Power 5 women's tennis teams, but also one of the top programs on the West Coast. Nilsson's aggressive scheduling has paid off for Pepperdine, as the team has won away from Malibu against Ohio State, Auburn, Florida, California and USC — all of which have put the Waves in a position to potentially host a NCAA Super Regional.
In singles, Pepperdine's top half of the lineup all earned first-team honors, while all five of the Waves' nationally ranked players earned All-WCC singles awards.
Playing primarily at the number one singles position, fifth-year senior Zaar earned first-team singles honors for the third consecutive year. Currently ranked 12th in the latest ITA polls, Zaar's decision to use her fifth year of collegiate eligibility has been critical for the team's success this year. The Stockholm, Sweden native is tied with Broadus with nine ranked singles wins, has a 15-5 record this spring and an impressive 11-3 record at the first position. In a stretch that included two top-25 singles wins, Zaar began dual match play winning five of her first six singles matches and has remained consistent ever since.
Joining Zaar and Broadus in first-team singles honors is #42 Tjen, who has recently moved up to Pepperdine's top singles spot after playing some of the best tennis of her career. At 16-2, Tjen has the best singles win percentage of the Waves; her stretch of 10 consecutive singles lined up perfectly with the Waves' rapid ascension in the ITA team rankings, and her contributions across the top half of the singles ladder make Pepperdine a serious title contender. Tjen goes into this weekend having won her last six matches, most of which were at the first position. This is Tjen's third-consecutive WCC first-team award.
Elsewhere in singles, #80 Redelijk earned All-WCC second-team honors for the first time in her career. The senior from Windermere, Fla. has a 9-3 record in dual match play while playing primarily at the fifth position and is currently riding a team-best seven-match win streak. One of two remaining players from Pepperdine's 2021 NCAA runner-up squad, Redelijk has been ranked in the ITA singles rankings all season long and gives the Waves five top-80 singles players in the lineup. Like her teammates, Redelijk has a perfect record in WCC play at 3-0.
Fifth-year senior #79 Campana rounds out Pepperdine's all-conference singles award winners. Earning All-WCC honorable mention singles honors for the first time in her career, the Hillsborough, Calif. Native is experiencing her most successful season as a Wave. She has been ranked in the ITA singles rankings all spring, has a 19-10 record this season and has played at the fourth and fifth positions for Pepperdine.
In doubles, the nation's second-ranked team of Broadus and Tjen was a no-brainer to earn All-WCC first-team honors. Having won the conference's doubles team of the week award an unprecedented seven times, the duo has rolled through the competition with a 27-2 record — including a 16-1 record in dual match play. In a stretch that included wins over four top-20 doubles teams, Broadus and Tjen won their first 15 matches of the spring season and eventually went undefeated in WCC play.
Pepperdine's doubles team of Conway and Zaar also won first-team all-conference honors, giving the Waves two of the three first-team selections. Conway and Zaar have an 11-5 record in dual match play and have proved to be effective at the third doubles position for Pepperdine. The duo went 4-1 against WCC competitors in their first season playing together.
The #6 Waves will head to San Diego for the WCC Tournament, held at the Aztec Tennis Center on the campus of San Diego State University from April 25-27. Pepperdine has a first-round bye; it will face either 4-seed LMU or 5-seed Saint Mary's in the semifinals on April 26 at 1:30 p.m.
