Thursday, 10/18/2012

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women’s tennis team heads to the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego this weekend for the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championships. The annual event brings together student-athletes from Southern California, Hawaii and Arizona as they compete for valuable points towards singles and doubles rankings.

THE SINGLES DRAW - Khunpak Issara, ranked #39 in the ITA rankings and seeded third in the tournament, earned a first-round bye and will face the winner of the Jackie Owens-Kalika Stevcove match. #74-ranked Ale Granillo will surpass the first round and play either Laura Oldham or Kat Facey in round two. The junior is seed eighth overall. Lorraine Guillermo earned the No. 16 seed and also received a bye. The sophomore is set to face UCLA’s Holly Flemming in the round of 64. Megan Moore, Tara Panu and Abigail Phillips will all battle in the first round.

THE DOUBLES DRAW - Ale Granillo and Megan Moore will team up and face Holly Flemming and Kaitlin Ray in the opening round of the doubles tournament. Tara Panu and Abigail Phillips make up the second Waves’ duo and received a first-round bye. The pair will play a team from either San Diego State or UC Riverside.

For complete singles, doubles and consolation draws, visit: http://gowav.es/REXU2z

RIVIERA/ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP - Lorraine Guillermo and Khunpak Issara suffered a first-round loss at the ITA/Riviera All-American Championship but stormed back in the consolation round. The pair won four in a row -- all against ranked teams -- to win the consolation bracket and earn the automatic bid to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship in Flushing, N.Y. on Nov. 8-11.

COVERAGE - Results and recaps for this weekend’s action will be posted at PepperdineSports.com.

WOMEN’S TENNIS NOW ON TWITTER - Follow all the latest news on the Pepperdine women’s tennis team by following @PeppWTEN. Check out the entire Pepperdine Athletics social media directory to see who’s on Facebook, Twitter, and more!

WCC SINGLES PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Lorraine Guillermo went a perfect 3-0 in singles at the SDSU Fall Classic to open the 2012 fall season. Guillermo defeated opponents from San Diego and North Texas to win the top-tier red bracket.

LOOKING AHEAD - Next up on the Waves’ schedule is the Jack Kramer Invitational in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. on Nov. 9-11. That same weekend, Issara and Guillermo will be heading to the East Coast for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships.

LOOKING BACK - The Waves won the first-ever West Coast Conference regular season title after going a perfect 8-0 during the 2012 dual season, before placing second at the league tournament. Pepperdine downed Santa Clara in the semifinals before falling to San Diego 4-2 in the championship match. After earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, Pepperdine, ranked #41 at the time, defeated #22 Purdue 4-0 before falling to #9 Cal in the second round.

2012 ALL-WCC TEAM - The Waves earned high acclaim in the 2012 all-conference awards. Lorraine Guillermo was dubbed West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, becoming the seventh player in Pepperdine history to do so. Guillermo also picked up second-team honors in singles and first-team accolades in doubles. Khunpak Issara made the first team roster in both singles and doubles, while Ale Granillo made All-WCC singles second team. Ali Walters and Arianna Colffer both earned honorable mention status in both singles and doubles.

WRITING RECORDS - Lorraine Guillermo and Khunpak Issara’s 2012 doubles win tally of 20 ranks fifth in Pepperdine’s single season record book.

PRESEASON RANKINGS - Khunpak Issara earned a preseason singles rank #39 and Ale Granillo is ranked #74 in the poll. Pepperdine’s #1 doubles pair, Issara and Lorraine Guillermo, open the 2012-13 season with a preseason ranking of #7.

Gualberto Escudero - Now in his 36th season at the helm of the program, Gualberto Escudero enters the 2012-13 season with a career record of 620-317 (.662). He 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 three occasions.

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 #54 overall on U.S. News and World Report’s list of America’s best colleges.