Pepperdine Team Page
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women’s tennis team opens the 2012 fall tournament season with a pair of tournaments in the Southern California area. On Sept. 28-29, Lorraine Guillermo, Tara Panu and Megan Moore will be competing at the SDSU Fall Classic. Beginning on Oct. 1, Ale Granillo, Khunpak Issara and Guillermo take on the nation’s finest at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championship.
SDSU FALL CLASSIC - The SDSU Fall Classic, running Friday through Sunday, is being held at San Diego State’s Aztec Tennis Center. Teams in attendance include San Diego, North Texas, Cal State Northridge and New Mexico State. Lorraine Guillermo (Walnut, Calif./Rowland HS), Tara Panu (Los Altos Hills, Calif./The Harker School) and Megan Moore (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) are all slated to compete in singles, while Guillermo and Moore will team up in doubles. Full brackets are available here.
RIVIERA/ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP - The Riviera/ITA All-American Championship will once again be hosted by the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Oct. 1-7. Prequalifying will take place at UCLA on Sept. 29-30. Ale Granillo (Pachuca, Mexico/Instituto Hidalgo), Khunpak Issara (Bangkok, Thailand/Bangkok Patana School) and Guillermo have all been allotted entry in the prestigious annual event.
QUALIFYING - Granillo and Issara both earned a spot in qualifying need just three wins to advance to the main draw. Singles qualifying begins on Monday, Oct. 1 and goes through Wednesday, Oct. 3. Brackets will be posted at itatennis.com at the conclusion of the prequalifying tournament.
MAIN DRAW - Issara and Guillermo, who earned All-American status last season after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2012 NCAA Doubles Championship, were granted one of 20 spots in the doubles main draw. The duo, who begin the 2012-13 campaign ranked #7 in the ITA preseason doubles rankings, open action on Thursday, Oct. 4. Champions will be crowned on Sunday, Oct. 7.
COVERAGE - Results and recaps will be posted at PepperdineSports.com at the conclusion each day’s action.
LOOKING BACK - The Waves won the first-ever West Coast Conference regular season title after going a perfect 8-0, before placing second at the league tournament in 2012. 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.
SOCIAL MEDIA - Fans can follow the Waves on Twitter @PepperdineWaves and “like” us on Facebook by searching for Pepperdine Athletics.
ROSTER - Pepperdine returns seven letterwinners from last year’s 16-9 team, including 2012 all-conference team members in Khunpak Issara, Ale Granillo, Arianna Colffer, and WCC Freshman of the Year Lorraine Guillermo. The Waves expect to add additional talent to the roster in January, prior to the dual season.
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.
