May 2, 2012

SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- LMU’s Nicholas Bjerke and Sebastian Bustamante were named to the West Coast Conference’s All-WCC second team in doubles. In addition, Bjerke received honorable mention for his efforts in singles play.

Bjerke and Bustamante went 7-4 for the season at #1 doubles in dual matches. The pair gained wins over Jonathon Knowlman and Germain Bahri of San Francisco and Alex Ferrero and Michel Hu Kwo of Gonzaga.

In singles, Bjerke went 11-6 this season playing in the number one and two positions. The junior went 3-2 in WCC play and was named WCC Player of the Month for February after he went 5-0 during the month leading the Lions to a three-match win streak. Bjerke had a seven-match win steak, in singles, spanning a six-week stretch in February and March.

Pepperdine junior Sebastian Fanselow was named the WCC Player of the Year after going undefeated in conference play and leading the Waves to its 42nd WCC title in conference history. Fanselow ended the season with a 28-7 overall record at the No. 1 singles position and was ranked No. 9 in the country, as of April 24.

Santa Clara's Ilya Osintsev garnered WCC Freshman of the Year honors after stringing together an impressive 19-2 overall record at the No. 5 singles spot and going 8-1 in conference play, including wins over Pepperdine and San Diego when both teams were ranked in the ITA's top 25. Osintsev also partnered with John Lamble at No. 1 doubles to tally a 7-1 record during the month of March to earn WCC Doubles Team of the Month.

Pepperdine head coach Adam Steinberg and Santa Clara head coach Derek Mills shared the WCC Coach of the Year award this year after receiving the same amount of votes by the conference coaches. Coach Steinberg helped lead his team to a 23-6 overall record, an undefeated campaign against WCC opponents, and a 4-1 defeat over San Diego at the 2012 WCC Championships toclaim this year's WCC title. Coach Mills guided his Broncos to their first ever NCAA Tournament bid in school history after finishing 21-5 overall and 7-1 in conference play to finish the WCC regular season in second place.

The 2012 all-conference first team was selected by the conference coaches, based on overall season performance. All-WCC Second Team members were chosen based on the same criteria, plus performance at the recent WCC Championships.

Below is the full list of All-WCC First and Second Team members in singles and doubles, including honorable mention:

2012 WCC Men's Tennis Postseason Award Winners

WCC Player of the Year: Sebastian Fanselow, Pepperdine

WCC Freshman of the Year: Ilya Osintsev, Santa Clara

WCC Co-Coach of the Year: Adam Steinberg, Pepperdine & Derek Mills, Santa Clara

All-WCC First Team Singles

Finn Tearney, Pepperdine

Georgy Batrakov, BYU

Kyle Dandan, Santa Clara

Nikola Bubnic, San Diego

Patrick Pohlmann, San Diego

Sebastian Fanselow, Pepperdine

All-WCC Second Team Singles

Alex Llompart, Pepperdine

Clarke Spinosa, San Diego

John Lamble, Santa Clara

Maxime Olivan, Saint Mary's

Spencer Smith, BYU

Thai Tu, San Francisco

Honorable Mention: Alvaro Nazal, GON; Geoff Hernandez, POR; Ilya Osintsev, SCU; Michael Hu Kwo, POR; Nicholas Bjerke, LMU; Patrick Kawka, BYU; Thibaut Visy, USD; Tom Pham, SCU

All-WCC First Team Doubles

Alex Llompart/Finn Tearney, Pepperdine

Jenson Turner/Sebastian Fanselow, Pepperdine

Nikola Bubnic/Thibaut Visy, San Diego

All-WCC Second Team Doubles

Georgy Batrakov/Patrick Kawka, BYU

Ilya Osintsev/John Lamble, Santa Clara

Nicholas Bjerke/Sebastian Bustamante, Loyola Marymount

Honorable Mention: Alex Ferrero/Michael Hu Kwo, POR; Francis Sargeant/Spencer Smith, BYU; HughClarke/David Sofaer, PEP; Kyle Dandan/Tom Pham, SCU; Scott Sullivan/Zhia Hwa Chong, GON

-GO LIONS-