Malibu Surfside News

22 | August 6, 2020 | MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS SPORTS
malibusurfsidenews.com
Golden Coast Conference
postpones water polo season
SUBMITTED BY PEPPERDINE
UNIVERSITY, Ricky Davis
The Pepperdine men’s
water polo team will not
be able to defend its 2019
Golden Coast Conference
championship until 2021,
as the conference office announced
the postponement
of the season until at least
January because of the CO-
VID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic has had a
major impact in the state of
California over the last few
weeks which has forced us
to make some tough decisions
in collegiate athletics,”
said Commissioner
Mike Daniels. “We are
hopeful this will enable us
to have a full season come
January.”
The move does not prohibit
teams from paractice
or other training opportunities
as allowed by state and
local guidelines, NCAA
guidelines and each individual
campus’ procedures.
“While this decision was
extremely difficult and will
be incredibly challenging
for our student-athletes,
coaches and administrators,
the GCC Men’s Water
Polo Executive Committee
focused on the importance
of the safety, health and
well-being of our campus
communities,” said Andy
Fee, GCC men’s water polo
executive committee chair
and Long Beach State director
of athletics.
“COVID-19 has challenged
each of us in ways
we could never have imagined,
and we are proud that
our student-athletes and
coaches are handling this
difficult time with resiliency
and determination.”
The Waves won the 2019
conference tournament and
reached the NCAA tournament
for the first time since
the 1997 championship
season, reaching the semifinal
round.
A revised schedule will
be released at a later date
after the NCAA solidifies
its plan for the national
championship.
Pepperdine tennis
contributes nine waves to
ITA scholar-athlete lists
Ashley Lahey JACOB DYE/PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY
SUBMITTED BY PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY,
Morgan Davenport
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Nine members from both Pepperdine tennis
teams were recognized by the Intercollegiate
Tennis Association for their performances
in the classroom over the 2019-20
year, as both squads were also named ITA
All-Academic Teams.
From the women’s side, #1 Ashley Lahey
(senior; Hawthorne), #35 Jessica Failla
(graduate student; Ramona), #33 Anastasia
Iamachkine (sophomore; Lima, Peru), Astrid
Olsen (freshman; Hagan, Norway) and Lisa
Zaar (freshman; Stockholm, Sweden) earned
Scholar-Athlete status, averaging a 3.71
grade point between the five Waves as well
as a 3.51 GPA as a team.
Lahey is the sole returner to the list after
being named to the All-Academic list for the
fourth year in a row.
The #13 Waves women finished the 2020
spring season 8-4, going 6-3 against ranked
teams as #1 Lahey provided a show each
match, going 10-1 in the dual season.
On the men’s side, the ITA named Daniel
De Jonge (sophomore; Vlissingen, Netherlands),
Tim Zeitvogel (sophomore; Baden-
Baden, Germany), Pietro Fellin (freshman;
Milan, Italy) and Enrique Luque Rico (sophomore;
Cordoba, Spain) to the Scholar-Athlete
list, after averaging a 3.72 GPA between
the four as well as earning a 3.23 team GPA
Jessica Failla
SARAH OTTEMAN/PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY
Anastasia Iamachkine
SARAH OTTEMAN/PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY
garnering the All-Academic Team award.
The men also finished the season ranked
#19 as the last undefeated team (11-0) in the
country. They accomplished their best start to
a season since 2006, when the Waves won an
NCAA national championship.