Sebastian Fanselow, Damian Gryzelko, Mousheg Hovhannisyan, David Sofaer and Finn Tearney represented the men’s tennis team this past weekend at the 2012 Olympia Fields Country Club Invitational. With three seniors returning to the team, the men are looking forward to their upcoming season.
Senior Sebastian Fanselow was named 2012 West Coast Conference Player of the Year after being ranked No. 7 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He finished the 2012 season with an overall record of 31-8 in singles play. Fanselow was named West Coast Conference Singles Player of the Month in November, March and April of 2012. During the Olympia Fields Invitational, Fanselow defeated his first opponent from Illinois two sets to one.
Senior Mousheg Hovhannisyan has an overall record of 61-35 in singles play and 10-11 in doubles play. As a junior, Hovhannisyan went 2-2 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament and finished the 2011-12 season ranked No. 112 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in men’s singles. Hovhannisyan and Gryzelko came together in men’s doubles to defeat their opponents from Notre Dame, Quentin Monaghan and Wyatt McCoy, with a final score of 9-7. Freshman Damian Gryzelko won over twenty United States Tennis Association matches before joining the Waves tennis team this season. In his debut tournament, Gryzelko barely lost to his opponent from Calif. in the last set, 10-7.
Senior Finn Tearney was awarded All-WCC honors after the 2011-12 season in both singles and doubles after qualifying for the NCAA Championship Tournament for the second year in a row. Tearney finished last year’s season with a No. 32 ranking in ITA men’s singles and a No. 14 ranking in men’s doubles. Tearney did not compete in the Olympia Invitational, but is scheduled to compete in the team’s next scheduled tournament.
Junior David Sofaer is ranked second in Waves history for the number of doubles wins in a single season with his partner Hugh Clarke. Before Clarke graduated, the duo had a record of 24-4 in the 2011-12 season. As a Pepperdine scholar-athlete, Sofaer was named to the WCC All-Academic first team last season. Sofaer paired up with Gryzelko to defeat Notre Dame 8-5 at the Invitational.
The team has a long break before their next tournament in San Francisco, Calif., Oct. 12-14.
