April 23, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif.- Santa Clara senior Kenzo Hirakawa-Wong, junior Jay Wong, and freshman Kyle Danden were named to the All-WCC Men's Tennis Team on Thursday. Wong received Second Team accolades, while Hirakawa-Wong and Dandan were awarded Honorable Mentions for the 2008-09 season.
This is the first honor for both Dandan and Hirakawa-Wong and the second honor for Wong. Wong received Second Team accolades for his strong performance last season. This season, Wong was 10-9 at the No. 1 position for the Broncos.
Dandan, the only freshman on the team this year, was 8-7 for the season, while senior Hirakawa-Wong was 11-8.
As a team, the Broncos were 4-11 during the regular season.
Pepperdine's Omar Altmann was named WCC Player of the Year, succeeding his former doubles partner, graduated All-American Andre Begemann. After going 17-5 from the No. 2 singles position, Altmann was recently ranked No. 46 in the nation, the second highest ranked men's tennis player in the West Coast Conference.
Fellow Wave Alex Llompart garnered the WCC Freshman of the Year honor. Llompart arrived to Pepperdine as one of the top players in Puerto Rico and played the majority of the season at the No. 3 singles spot, where he went 17-4. Pepperdine Head Coach Adam Steinberg was voted Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career with the Waves, after leading his team to its 40th West Coast Conference crown.
On the All-WCC first team, Altmann and Llompart were joined by another Wave, No. 35-ranked in the country Bassam Beidas. Former Freshman of the Year, No. 52-ranked San Diego's Dean Jackson was also named to the list, after going undefeated in singles play at the WCC Championships last weekend. Portland's Filip Zivkovic also appeared on the list for a second straight year after leading the Pilots at the No. 1 position to a fourth place finish at the WCC Championships. Rounding out the first team squad was San Francisco's Tommy Tu, who was named to the all-conference second team last year. Tu posted a 13-8 record at No. 1 singles this season and helped his team take third place at the conference tournament.
Saint Mary's and San Diego had two players selected to the singles all-conference second team. The Gaels' Lucas Tirelli received his second consecutive selection to the all-conference second team, while Andrea Zannoni earned his very first all-conference honor. San Diego's Charl Wolmarans and Chris Coetzee both received first ever honors as well. The two remaining players named to the second team were both members of last year's squad: Loyola Marymount's Ivan Lopez and Santa Clara's Jay Wong.
As for doubles, three different programs were represented on the all-conference first team. March's WCC Doubles Team of the Month and No. 10-ranked team in the country, Bassam Beidas and Omar Altmann of Pepperdine, were on that list, joined by San Diego's No. 1 doubles pair, Dean Jackson and Nils Schive, and Portland's No. 1 duo of Evan Schleining and Filip Zivkovic.
On the doubles all-conference second team, San Francisco's Asaf Cohen and Tommy Tu, who both appeared on last year's all-conference second team with different partners, partnered up this year and were selected. San Diego's Charl Wolmarans and Chris Coetzee, who were both named to the singles second team, made it to the doubles second team as well. Last but not least, Loyola Marymount's Ivan Lopez and Nick Von Der Ahe took home their first doubles all-conference nod after a solid season at No. 3 doubles for the Lions.