SAN MATEO, Calif. – No. 5 ranked Pepperdine women’s tennis swept the 2021 West Coast Conference major individual honors – player, freshman and coach of the year – the conference office announced Thursday. The Waves also placed four athletes on the All-WCC Singles First Team and one pair on the Doubles First Team. Student-athletes from Saint Mary’s and San Diego earned the two remaining spots on the Singles First Team and the Doubles First Team.
Ashley Lahey, a four-time All-WCC honoree, finished the 2020-21 regular season with an overall record of 10-4 while playing the majority of the season at first singles. She was 6-0 in WCC play and is currently on a five-match win streak. She is the eighth Pepperdine player to be named the WCC Player of the Year. Nationally, Lahey is ranked No. 77 in the Oracle/ITA Division I Women’s Rankings and led the Waves to their eighth-straight WCC title and 28th overall. One of the most decorated players in WCC history, Lahey is a three-time ITA All-American, was the 2018 NCAA Singles Championship runner-up and was ranked as high as No. 1 in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Pepperdine’s Taisiya Pachkaleva claimed the WCC Freshman of the Year award, becoming the 12th Wave to earn the designation. Pachkaleva finished the season 22-1 overall and 8-0 in WCC play. She split her time between, second, third, fourth and fifth singles throughout the season. Ranked No. 89 in the nation, Pachkaleva has won her last 20-consecutive matches.
Per Nilsson has claimed his fifth WCC Coach of the Year award and first since 2018. In 2020-21, Nilsson has led Pepperdine to a record of 20-3 overall and 8-0 in WCC play for Pepperdine’s eighth-straight league title. The Waves won their eight conference matches by a combined score of 41-3. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Nilsson’s Waves are ranked No. 5 in the nation and host Northern Arizona in the first round on Friday.
Lahey and Pachkaleva were joined on the All-WCC First Team by teammates Jessica Failla (No. 21 in the nation) and Shoiri Fukuda (No. 118). The First Team is rounded out by Solymar Colling (No. 48) from San Diego and Mariia Kozyreva (No. 91) from Saint Mary’s.
The All-WCC Doubles First Team includes pairs from Pepperdine (Failla and Fukuda), Saint Mary’s (Kozyreva and Danielle McIntyre) and San Diego (Solymar Colling and Elizabeth Goldsmith).
In addition to Pepperdine, the WCC will be represented by San Diego in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 41 Toreros play No. 29 Texas Tech Friday at UCLA.
| 2020-21 WCC Women's Tennis Major Honors |
| Player of the Year: Ashley Lahey, Sr. – Pepperdine |
| Freshman of the Year: Taisiya Pachkaleva – Pepperdine |
| Coach of the Year: Per Nilsson – Pepperdine |
| 2020-21 All-WCC Women's Tennis First Team Singles |
| Name |
Year |
School |
| Solymar Colling |
So. |
San Diego |
| Jessica Failla |
Gr. |
Pepperdine |
| Shiori Fukuda |
Sr. |
Pepperdine |
| Mariia Kozyreva |
Sr. |
Saint Mary's |
| Ashley Lahey |
Sr. |
Pepperdine |
| Taisiya Pachkaleva |
Fr. |
Pepperdine |
|
|
|
| 2020-21 All-WCC Women's Tennis Second Team Singles |
| Name |
Year |
School |
| Anastasia Abramyan |
Sr. |
BYU |
| Elizabeth Goldsmith |
Fr. |
San Diego |
| Klara Kosan |
So. |
Pacific |
| Maria Martinez Vaquero |
Fr. |
San Francisco |
| Jordyn McBride |
Fr. |
San Diego |
| Iva Zelic |
Fr. |
Portland |
|
|
|
| 2020-21 All-WCC Women's Tennis Singles Honorable Mention |
| Name |
Year |
School |
| Cate Broerman |
So. |
Gonzaga |
| JennaMarie Gordon |
Fr. |
Santa Clara |
| Leah Heimuli |
Sr. |
BYU |
| Kate Ketels |
Gr. |
Gonzaga |
| Chiho Mushika |
So. |
San Francisco |
| Haruna Tsuruta |
Gr. |
Gonzaga |
| Lisa Zaar |
So. |
Pepperdine |
| 2020-21 All-WCC Women's Tennis First Team Doubles |
| Name |
School |
| Jessica Failla and Shiori Fukuda |
Pepperdine |
| Mariia Kozyreva and Danielle McIntyre |
Saint Mary's |
| Solymar Colling and Elizabeth Goldsmith |
San Diego |
|
|
| 2020-21 All-WCC Women's Tennis Second Team Doubles |
| Name |
School |
| Anastasia Abramyan and Helen Jiao |
BYU |
| Hannah Jones and Adrianna Sosnowski |
Gonzaga |
| Lisa Zaar and Taisiya Pachkaleva |
Pepperdine |
|
|
| 2020-21 All-WCC Women's Tennis Doubles Honorable Mention |
| Name |
School |
| Haruna Tsuruta Kate Ketels |
Gonzaga |
| Iva Zelic and Emily Soares |
Portland |
| Abigail Desiatnikov and Jordyn McBride |
San Diego |
| Chiho Mushika and Maria Martinez Vaquero |
San Francisco |
| Rita Colyer and Ari Capogrosso |
San Francisco |