Men's tennis picked to finish fourth in WCC

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The BYU men's tennis team was picked to finish fourth for the 2017-18 season in the West Coast Conference, as voted on by the league's head coaches, on Wednesday, Jan. 17. 

The Cougars completed the 2016-17 season in third place for the WCC conference, after being picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll. 

San Diego was selected to win the upcoming WCC season.

A total of three WCC teams received multiple first-place votes, but it was the Toreros who amassed 74 overall points to go with four first-place nods to claim the honor as the preseason favorites. San Diego, the four-time reigning winners of the West Coast Conference championship, return one member who was selected to the All-WCC Preseason Team in sophomore Gui Osorio.

In the last seven seasons, the Toreros have won the WCC regular season crown four times while also capturing five championships crowns in the same time frame, including four consecutive from 2014-17.

Pepperdine picked up three first-place votes and collected a total of 72 points to take second in the preseason poll. Last season, the Waves finished as the regular season and championship runner-up and will be led by preseason selection Pedro Iamachkine.

The Portland Pilots come in third with 70 points and three first-place votes and will be led by preseason selection and returning WCC Player of the Year Michail Pervolarakis.

Seven points separate BYU (48), Loyola Marymount (46) and San Francisco (41), which were selected fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. BYU is represented by Sean Hill on the preseason team while Lions sophomore Gabriel Diaz Freire is Loyola Marymount’s representative.

Meanwhile, Santa Clara (37), Pacific (36), Gonzaga (15) and Saint Mary's (11) round out the ten-team field at slots 7-10. Damon Kesaris, the returning WCC Freshman of the Year from Saint Mary’s, is the sixth member of the All-WCC Preseason Team.

The 2018 WCC Men's Tennis Championship will take place at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, Calif., April 26-28. 

2018 WEST COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TENNIS PRESEASON POLL

Team (First Place Votes)                  Points

1. San Diego (4)                                   74

2. Pepperdine (3)                                 72

3. Portland (3)                                      70

4. BYU                                                   48

5. Loyola Marymount                           46

6. San Francisco                                  41

7. Santa Clara                                      37

8. Pacific                                              36

9. Gonzaga                                          15

10. Saint Mary’s                                   11

2018 ALL-WCC PRESEASON MEN’S TENNIS TEAM

Gabriel Diaz Freire, Loyola Marymount, Soph.

Johan Joenhagen, San Francisco, Sr.

Pedro Iamachkine, Pepperdine, Sr.

Damon Kesaris, Saint Mary’s, Soph.

Gui Osorio, San Diego, Soph.

Michail Pervolarakis, Portland, Sr.