All the action begins on Friday morning at 9 a.m. First serve for the women's tournament will be on the West Courts at the University of San Diego. At the same time, the men's event will begin at Ralphs Straus Tennis Center on the campus of Pepperdine University.
WCC MEN'S TENNIS SEEDING AND MATCH TIMES
First Round
#3 Santa Clara vs. #6 Loyola Marymount- 9:00am
#2 San Diego vs. #7 Gonzaga- 11:00am
#4 Portland vs. #5 Saint Mary's- 1:00pm
#1 Pepperdine vs. #8 San Francisco- 3:00pm
WCC WOMEN'S TENNIS SEEDINGS AND MATCH TIMES
First Round
#1 Pepperdine vs. #8 San Francisco- 9:00am
#4 Portland vs. #5 Santa Clara- 9:00am
#2 San Diego vs. #7 Saint Mary's- 1:00pm
#3 Loyola Marymount vs. #6 Gonzaga- 1:00pm
WOMEN'S TEAMS GO TO SAN DIEGO WITH SIGHTS ON PEPPERDINE
Three WCC women's tennis teams have been part of the national rankings this season, and all of them are ready to battle for the conference championship. Pepperdine is the defending champion, and at #20 in the nation with three ranked singles players and the #2 doubles team in the country, the Waves are looking strong once again.
However, the challengers aren't about to concede the title without a fight. San Diego is also nationally ranked at #55, and they have a top doubles team of their own in Heather Polumbus and Krista Manning. Plus, the Toreros have the advantage of playing at home, where they have earned nine of their ten wins this year. Nor can Loyola Marymount be overlooked, as the Lions have been as high as #58 in the ITA rankings this season, and their top doubles team of Angelina Zdorovytska and Andrea Lord has been ranked as high as #26. Those three teams have been the top three finishers in the women's tournament every year since 1988. Portland and Santa Clara also enter the championships on a roll and looking to make some noise. SCU has won five straight matches coming in, while Portland has won four of five.
MEN'S TEAMS SET TO ENGAGE IN A FREE-FOR-ALL IN MALIBU
15th-ranked Pepperdine is once again the team to beat at the WCC men's tennis championship, as the hosts enter the event as the owners of ten straight WCC titles, and 26 of the last 28. The Waves, 15-8 in dual matches this year, are once again well-represented in the individual rankings with two of the nation's top 50 singles players, Al Garland and Stefan Suter, as well as a top ten doubles team.
San Diego, which stands at #55 in the April 18th rankings, is the only team which has been able to interrupt Pepperdine's run, winning back-to-back titles in 1989 and '90. The Toreros have picked it up in the last month after some early inconsistency, winning six of their last nine matches to push their record to 11-8 on the season.
However, neither USD nor Pepperdine can afford to get comfortable, because there are four teams chasing them who are red-hot and looking to make a statement. Loyola Marymount has won four straight matches, Santa Clara has won five of their last six, Portland has won six of their last seven, and Saint Mary's has won eight of their last nine. All four could play a significant role in the title chase, as can San Francisco, who makes it seven out of eight teams that finished the regular season at .500 or better.
