SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The No. 49 BYU men’s tennis team was chosen to finish third in the 2012 West Coast Conference preseason poll, as voted on by the conference coaches.
No. 12 Pepperdine received the maximum 64 total points after earning eight first place votes. Reigning 2011 WCC Champion No. 27 San Diego was chosen to finish second this season with 56 points. In its first season as a member of the WCC, BYU was chosen to finish third with 50.
No. 50 Santa Clara (44 points), San Francisco (34) and No. 64 Saint Mary’s (29) landed in fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Loyola Marymount was picked seventh with 23 points, while Portland and Gonzaga round out the coaches’ poll.
Senior Georgy Batrakov represents BYU as a member of the preseason all-conference team after reaching the Round of 16 of the ITA All-American Championships. The men’s preseason all-conference team includes players from Pepperdine, San Diego and BYU.
Pepperdine juniors Finn Tearney and Sebastian Fanselow, and San Diego seniors Nicola Bubnic and Patrick Pohlmann return to the all-conference team from last season. This past fall, Tearney was one of six at-large selections for the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional and advanced to the semifinals. Fanselow earned WCC Player of the Month honors in December 2011 and concluded his fall campaign with a 7-4 record, including four wins over ranked opponents. Bubnic earned WCC Doubles Honors in November 2011 after taking home the doubles title with partner Thibaut Visy at the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional. Pohlmann finished the fall with a 4-3 singles mark after being ranked No. 122 in the fall ITA ranking.
Pepperdine junior Mousheg Hovhannisyan rounds out the list. Hovhannisyan concluded the fall campaign with a team-high nine singles victories.
BYU kicks off conference play March 23 when it takes on Santa Clara.
2012 WCC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
Pepperdine - 64 (8)
San Diego - 56 (1)
BYU – 50
Santa Clara – 44
San Francisco – 34
Saint Mary's - 29
Loyola Marymount – 23
Portland – 14
Gonzaga – 10
2012 Preseason All-Conference Team
Finn Tearney, PEP
Georgy Batrakov, BYU
Mousheg Hovhannisyan, PEP
Nikola Bubnic, USD
Patrick Pohlmann, USD
Sebastian Fanselow, PEP