Pepperdine Women's Tennis History

The Pepperdine women’s tennis program has long been a player on the national stage, with repeated strong showings at the NCAA Championships and far more West Coast Conference championships than any other school.

Former Pepperdine head coach Gualberto Escudero made quite a lasting impact on the Waves’ program, who completed his 37th and final season in charge of the program in 2013-14. Per Nilsson took the reins in the 2014-15 season and was named the back-to-back WCC Coach of the Year in his first two seasons.

Per Nilsson

The Waves had an outstanding season in 2016, with the fourth-consecutive WCC tournament and regular season titles and an appearance in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals in Tulsa, Okla., a feat that had not been accomplished since 1994. Pepperdine went 24-3 overall and sported a perfect 9-0 among WCC competition. The team went an undefeated 10-0 at home, 8-1 on the road and 6-2 on neutral ground. Throughout the season, the Waves had many solid wins, including the program’s first-ever win over then-ranked #20 and eventual NCAA national champions, Stanford, 4-3 in Palo Alto on March 22.

Overall in 2016, the Waves went 10-3 against nationally ranked opponents, including wins over Southern California twice (when ranked #4 and #20), #22 UCLA and #27 Arizona State to name a few. In the postseason run, the Waves downed Idaho and USC in the first and second rounds in Malibu to advance to the tournament in Tulsa. There, Pepperdine worked through the round of 16 with a 4-0 win over #24 Texas before falling to top-ranked California in the quarterfinals.

Pepperdine’s most recent All-American was freshman standout Luisa Stefani who took home All-American singles accolades as well as ITA National Rookie of the Year honors. Stefani also reached the NCAA Singles Championship semifinals. It was the first time a Wave has done so since Porter accomplished the feat in 1989.

Luisa Stefani

Also competing in the NCAA Doubles Championships were Stefani and partner Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai and Matea Cutura and Christine Maddox. Both teams reached the round of 16 before falling to fourth-ranked Cal and third-ranked Florida opponents respectively.

Since 1976, Pepperdine has produced a record of 707-351 (.668) and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament on 33 occasions (32 not including regionals). The Waves have reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament on five occasions (1989, 1990, 1991, 1994 and 2016). Pepperdine hasn’t missed the postseason since 1987 and has only been absent from the NCAA Tournament twice since the first championship was held in 1982.

During Escudero’s final season in 2014, Pepperdine won a program-record 15 dual matches in a row while producing an overall win-loss tally of 19-5 (.792).

Gualberto Escudero

None of the competition in the WCC comes close to matching the Waves, who have won a total of 26 league tournament crowns and an additional five regular-season titles. Pepperdine won 14 straight tournament crowns from 1988-2001, another seven in a row from 2003-09, and currently has a streak of four tournament titles in a row. The Waves have won all but five of the WCC championship tournaments ever held, and no other school has won more than two. Since the tournament went to its current dual-match format in 1995, the Waves have posted a remarkable 59-3 (.950) record.

Over the years, Pepperdine has collected 33 All-American selections, six WCC Player of the Year awards and nine WCC Freshman of the Year accolades.

Janna Kovacevich / Angela Lawrence

The Waves have had two four-time All-Americans: Janna Kovacevich (1988-91) and Angela Lawrence (1996-99). Three-time All-Americans include Ginger Helgeson, Noelle Porter and Ipek Senoglu, while Zsofia Csapo, Lorraine Guillermo, Pam Jung, Paola Palencia and Isabela Petrov were two-time All-Americans.

Prior to Stefani, the previous All-American achievers were Khunpak Issara and Lorraine Guillermo in 2012. With a career doubles record of 33-6, the duo ended their tenure together with the highest winning percentage in program history at .846. Guillermo went on to All-American singles notice as a senior in 2015.

Lorraine Guillermo

The Waves have also produced many standouts in the classroom, including Anna Brunstrom, who received CoSIDA Academic All-American second team honors in 1991, in addition to 48 WCC All-Academic selections since 1992.

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