Friday, 12/02/2011

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men’s tennis team competes in its final tournament of the fall season this weekend, sending Mousheg Hovhannisyan, Daniel Moss and Jenson Turner to Florida for the Lakewood Ranch Clay Court Intercollegiate Classic. The tournament provides a unique opportunity for collegiate student-athletes to compete on the clay surface.

 

The 32-player singles draw and 16-team doubles draw begins on Friday, Nov. 11 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 13.

 

Hovhannisyan (North Hollywood, Calif./Continental Academy), Moss (Malibu, Calif./Malibu HS) and Turner (Woodland Hills, Calif./Campbell Hall HS) will all compete in singles, while Hovhannisyan and Turner will team up in doubles play.

 

LAKEWOOD RANCH GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB - The Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, located near Sarasota, Fla., featured 18 lighted clay courts.

 

PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Finn Tearney picked up West Coast Conference Singles Player of the Month honors after reaching the semifinals of the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championships on Oct. 20-24 in Malibu. Although the junior has earned doubles player of the month recognition on four occasions, this was the first time he was honored for his success in singles.

 

CHECK THE RECORD - Hovhannisyan, Moss and Turner have collectively tallied a singles record of 12-6 this fall. Hovhannisyan leads with a tied-for-team high seven victories. Other Waves to reach seven wins this fall include Hugh Clarke, Finn Tearney and Sebastian Fanselow.

 

TWITTER - Fans can follow the Waves on Twitter @PeppTennis or @PepperdineWaves and “like” us on Facebook by searching for Pepperdine Athletics.

 

LOOKING BACK - Finn Tearney and Sebastian Fanselow competed at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Fanselow advanced to the second round before falling to #3-ranked Eric Quigley of Kentucky.

 

Meanwhile, back on the West Coast, Hugh Clarke, David Sofaer and Kento Tanaka-Tamaki were competing at the Southern California Intercollegiate Championship. The Waves experienced some early-tournament success but were forced to exit prematurely after Clarke suffered a minor injury.

 

ITA ALL-AMERICAN RECAP - Four members of the Pepperdine men’s tennis team, including Mousheg Hovhannisyan, Jenson Turner, Finn Tearney and Sebastian Fanselow gained entry to the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. Hovhannisyan tallied three-straight wins in qualifying to earn a spot in the singles main draw. Fanselow reached the consolation singles final but suffered a loss, narrowly missing out on the automatic bid to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship in Flushing, N.Y. next month.

 

UP NEXT - The Waves break until Jan. 22 when they open up the dual season versus Fresno State on the road.

 

RANKINGS - In singles, four members of the Pepperdine squad earned a spot on the Campbell’s/ITA Collegiate Rankings, including Sebastian Fanselow (#10), Finn Tearney (#19), Jenson Turner (#98) and Mousheg Hovhannisyan (#111). In doubles Fanselow and Turner are listed at #11, while Tearney and Hugh Clarke are ranked #14.

 

WHO’S BACK — The Waves have seven letterwinners back from the 2010-11 squad including All-American Sebastian Fanselow. All-WCC singles selections Alex Llompart and Finn Tearney are also back, although Llompart is taking the fall off and will not join the team until January. Other players back include Hugh Clarke, Mousheg Hovhannisyan, Jenson Turner and Daniel Moss.

 

WHO’S NEW — The Waves welcome Hawai’i native Kento Tanaka-Tamaki to the roster this season. Tanaka-Tamaki had a standout prep school career at St. Anthony Junior-Senior High School. He was a four-year varsity member with a career singles record of 50-5, and was named the Maui Interscholastic League Player of the Year on three occasions. As a senior, he was the state runner-up champion on the singles court.

 

ADAM STEINBERG — Now in his 10th season as head coach of the Waves, Adam Steinberg enters the 2011 season with a career record of 324-145 (.691) including a 180-61 (.747) mark at Pepperdine. Since setting foot on the Malibu campus in 2003, Steinberg has captured eight WCC conference championships, eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and an NCAA Championship crown in 2006. He has tutored 15 Waves to All-American status, and has been named WCC Coach of the Year five times. Prior to coming to Pepperdine, Steinberg served as the head coach at Alabama and St. John’s for five seasons apiece.

 

2011 RECAP — The Waves finished the 2011 dual season with a 18-5 record and concluded the season ranked #15 in the Campbell’s/ITA Collegiate Rankings. Pepperdine defeated two top-10 ranked teams including #4 Duke and #7 Texas A&M. Sebastian Fanselow, Finn Tearney and Alex Llompart were all named to the All-WCC first team in singles, while Fanselow and Jenson Turner were awarded all-conference honors in doubles after piecing together an 18-1 dual season record as a pair. At the 2011 NCAA Singles Championships, Fanselow advanced to the round of 16 to earn All-American distinction.

 

TENNIS HISTORY — The Pepperdine men’s tennis program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power. The Waves have advanced to postseason play 35 times in 38 seasons, including an NCAA championship in 2006. Within the WCC, Pepperdine has dominated the competition, winning 41 conference championships since 1958.

 

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 16 schools to have accomplished this feat - and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest enrollment and is the only school not in a major conference. 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 #55 overall on U.S. News and World Report’s list of America’s best colleges. The 2011-12 school year marks Pepperdine’s 75th anniversary.