Pepperdine Team Page
MALIBU, Calif. - After reaching the quarterfinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship, the #7 Pepperdine men’s tennis team continues the 2013 dual campaign with matches vs. Florida State, TCU and San Diego State. The Waves-Seminoles rematch will be contested at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. and be broadcast live and for free online.
MATCH 9 - Sunday (Feb. 24) at IMG Academy: #7 Pepperdine (6-2, 0-0 WCC) vs. #29 Florida State (9-2, 0-0 ACC) at 10 a.m. (PT)
MATCH 10 - Tuesday (Feb. 26) at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center: #7 Pepperdine at #44 Texas Christian (7-3, 0-0 Big 12) at 3:30 p.m. (PT)
MATCH 11 - Thursday (Feb. 28) at Aztec Tennis Center: #7 Pepperdine at #70 San Diego State (6-3, 1-0 Mountain West) at 1 p.m. (PT)
IMG COVERAGE - The IMG Academy will be streaming Sunday’s Pepperdine-Florida State contest via its website. Login credentials will be automatically provided at the time of the match. Additionally, fans can follow live scoring compliments of Florida State.
IMG ACADEMY - Set over 450 acres in Bradenton, Fla., IMG Academy features programs throughout the year in tennis, golf, basketball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, football and athletic and personal development. Since the start of IMG Academy, its trained athletes have won 131 All Stars, 63 MVP Awards, 22 World Championships, five National Titles, two Heisman Trophies, 889 Tournaments, 107 Major Championships and 11 Olympic Medals.
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE - Live scoring for Tuesday’s match vs. TCU can be followed here.
LOOKING AHEAD - The Waves will compete at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship in La Jolla, Calif. On March 1-3 before welcoming Michigan to the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Wednesday, March 6.
LOOKING BACK - The Waves opened the ITA National Indoor Championship in Seattle, Wash. with a 4-1 triumph over #11 Florida ... In the quarterfinals, Pepperdine suffered a loss to #4 Ohio State ... The Waves suffered a 4-1 loss to #9 Duke in consolation ... Despite the loss, Finn Tearney and Francis Alcantara earned a banner win over Henrique Cunha and Raphael Hemmeler from the No. 1 spot in the doubles lineup ... Tearney and Alcantara, unranked, topped #2-ranked Cunha and Hemmeler by a score of 8-6.
FLORIDA STATE - The Seminoles are 9-2 in 2013 ... The Waves defeated FSU 5-2 on Jan. 27 at home during the final round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend ... The Seminoles edged Pepperdine in doubles before the Waves prevailed in singles ... Dominic Cotrone is ranked #99 in singles ... Benjamin Lock and Andres Bucaro are listed at #52 in doubles.
TEXAS CHRISTIAN - TCU is 7-3 this season after defeating Rice 4-3 ... The Horned Frogs are currently ranked #44 in the ITA team rankings ... The Waves hold a 12-4 all-time advantage vs. TCU.
SAN DIEGO STATE - The Aztecs are 6-3 and play Boise State two days before facing the Waves ... SDSU plays two matches on Feb. 28 ... The team is set to play Cal on Thursday morning ... Derek Siddiqui is ranked #104 in singles.
RANKINGS - The Waves are currently ranked #7 in the team rankings, and have reached as high as #5 ... Sebastian Fanselow is currently ranked a career-best #4 in singles ... Alex Sarkissian entered the rankings on Feb. 12 at #89 ... Finn Tearney made his first rankings appearance of 2013 at #105 ... For complete ITA team, singles and doubles rankings, visit the ITA rankings page.
TOP FIVE - The Waves were awarded with a #5 ITA team ranking on Feb. 5. It was the first time Pepperdine has earned top-five status since the 2006 season, when they spent the majority of the season in the top-five, won the NCAA Championship and concluded the year at #1. Although the Waves reached the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA Championship, they were ranked #6 in the final ITA poll.
THE LINEUP - Finn Tearney and Francis Alcantara have been holding down the No. 1 doubles spot, followed by Sebastian Fanselow and Alex Sarkissian and No. 2 ... Mousheg Hovhannisyan has teamed up mostly with David Sofaer at No. 3 ... In singles Fanselow, Sarkissian and Tearney play at the top of the lineup, followed by Alcantara, Hovhannisyan and Sofaer ... Kento Tanaka-Tamaki has also made his way into the doubles and singles rotation.
TWITTER - Fans can follow the Waves on Twitter @PeppTennis or @PepperdineWaves and “like” us on Facebook by searching for Pepperdine Athletics.
WCC PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Sebastian Fanselow was the West Coast Conference singles player of the month for November, after his run at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship ... Mousheg Hovhannisyan and David Sofaer were awarded January Doubles Team of the Month honors after opening the season with back-to-back victories.
NATIONAL INDOOR RECAP - Sebastian Fanselow, who did not compete for the majority of the fall season, made his return to the court at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship in Flushing, N.Y. in November ... After defeating two top-10 ranked opponents in straight sets, Fanselow was pitted against #8-ranked and top seeded Alex Domijan in the semifinals ... After splitting the first two sets, the duo fought all the way to a 6-6 tie in the third ... Fanselow held serve and proceed to break Domijan’s serve at love to secure the match 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Fanselow later fell to Domijan’s teammate, Jamere Jenkins, in the finals but not before he was named the USTA/ITA Sportsmanship Award recipient.
Adam Steinberg - Now in his 11th season as head coach of the Waves, Adam Steinberg boasts career record of 282-151 including a 152-72 mark at Pepperdine. Since setting foot on the Malibu campus in 2003, Steinberg has captured six WCC conference championships, six appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and an NCAA Championship crown in 2006. He has tutored 16 Waves to All-American status, and has been named WCC Coach of the Year six times. Prior to coming to Pepperdine, Steinberg served as the head coach at Alabama and St. John’s for five seasons apiece.
2012 MEN’S DUAL RECAP - The Waves finished the 2012 season with a 27-7 record and concluded the season ranked #6 in the Campbell’s/ITA Collegiate Rankings. The men’s squad won a program-record 24 dual matches in a row and reached the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament after upsetting Georgia 4-3 in the quarterfinals. The previous win-streak record was held by the 1985 team that strung together 20 wins, finishing the season 30-7 and ranked #6 in the country.
2012 AWARDS RECAP - Sebastian Fanselow was named the Pepperdine Athletics Male Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Daniel Moss was voted Wave of the Year. Fanselow was also named WCC Player of the Year. Fanselow and Finn Tearney made the All-WCC singles first team roster, while Alex Llompart was a second team honoree. In doubles, the duos of Tearney/Llompart and Jenson Turner/Fanselow were voted to the All-WCC first team, and David Sofaer/Hugh Clarke picked up on an honorable mention. Sofaer earned WCC All-Academic team recognition. Adam Steinberg was recognized as the WCC Co-Coach of the Year. On Monday, the ITA released its regional awards winners. Steinberg was named Southwest Coach of the Year. Fanselow was dubbed the Player to Watch in the Southwest region and later recognized as the national award winner. He also picked up All-American accolades in singles for the second-straight year.
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.
