BYU tennis: Cougars picked 4th in WCC, Kawka named to preseason team

PROVO, Utah – In its second year in the West Coast Conference, the BYU men’s tennis team was chosen to finish fourth in the 2013 Coaches Preseason Poll. Junior Patrick Kawka was selected to the 2013 Preseason All-Conference Team.

BYU received 45 votes to finish in fourth place just behind the 47 points received by Santa Clara. Pepperdine, the 2012 WCC champion, was chosen to finish first in the conference with 64 votes.

The Cougars finished fourth in the WCC last year with a 4-3 record in conference play.

BYU is returning five players from last year, including Kawka, who received an honorable mention on the 2012 All-Conference Team.

Conference plays begins for BYU on Feb. 9 against Santa Clara at the Indoor Tennis Courts.

2013 WCC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll 1. Pepperdine - 64 (8) 2. San Diego - 57 (1) 3. Santa Clara - 47 4. BYU - 45 5. San Francisco - 30 6. Saint Mary's - 29 7. Loyola Marymount - 23 8. Portland - 19 9. Gonzaga - 10 (First place votes)

2013 Preseason All-Conference Team Sebastian Fanselow, PEP Patrick Kawka, BYU John Lamble, SCU Clarke Spinosa, USD Finn Tearney, PEP Thai Tu, USF

Aaron Sorenson is the tennis sports information director at BYU.