MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women's golf head coach Laurie Gibbs has been named Women's Golf Coaches Associations (WGCA) West Region Coach of the Year, as the organization announced today. 
 
"Our team had a great year with six tournament wins and excellent individual wins and top finishes," said Gibbs.  "Having six players contributing throughout the season really made a difference. There are great coaches in the West Region and I am honored for the recognition. Coach Rich and I enjoyed having players that worked hard all season to improve and succeed as a team!"
 
This is the third honor of its kind for Gibbs as she was recognized as WGCA's West Region Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003 as well.
 
The Waves had one of the best seasons in program history this year, winning a program-best six tournaments and advancing to match play at the NCAA Championships for the first time since the format was instituted in 2015.  The team won a share of the NCAA San Antonio Regional title to advance to the finals for the 13^th time all-time and then continued with a strong performance through four rounds of stroke play to earn the #8 seed in match play, eventually ending the season in the quarterfinals for fifth place. 
 
Gibbs also led Pepperdine to a league-best 20^th West Coast Conference Championship crown and was named WCC Coach of the Year for the 15^th time in her career.  This season, she coached Lion Higo and Jeneath Wong to WGCA All-American acclaim, Higo to WCC Player of the Year recognition and five Waves to spots on the All-WCC first team.  
 
The Waves finished the year with a 288.2 scoring average, charting the best single-season scoring average all-time and surpassing the previous record of 292.50 from the 2013-14 season. 
 
In addition to the NCAA San Antonio Regional and WCC Championships, the Waves won the Silicon Valley Showcase and Anuenue Spring Break Classic in the spring and the Golfweek Red Sky Classic and Golf Iconic Classic in the fall.
 
WGCA Regional Coach of the Year
Emily Fletcher, Northwestern University
Laurie Gibbs, Pepperdine University
Kim Lewellen, Wake Forest University (*National Coach of the Year)
Ryan Murphy, University of Texas
 
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