OJAI, Calif. – It was a difficult first day of play for Washington State at the 2014 Pac-12 Tennis Championships, with all five Cougars falling in their opening-round matches Friday at the Ojai Athletic Club.

Junior Elizaveta Luzina came within a few games of pulling off the upset as she faced California's Anett Schutting, ranked No. 19 in the nation, in the Championship Draw.  After dropping the first set 6-4, Luzina charged back, capturing the second 6-4 and grabbing an early break to lead 3-1 in the third. That was as close as she came as Schutting, the third-seed in the draw, closed out the match with five straight games to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Also in the Championship Draw No. 5 Lynn Chi of California posted a straight-set win over Maria Biryukova, 6-4, 6-1, while Washington's Elianne Douglas-Miron captured a break each set to defeat Lize Leenknecht, 6-3, 6-3.

In the Invitational Draw,  No. 4 seed Akilah James of Arizona defeated Dajana Ognjenovic 6-1, 6-0 while USC's Zoe Katz, the No. 6 seed, won two close sets in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Olga Musilovich.

The Cougars resume play at the Pac-12 Championships Friday with first-round doubles and consolation singles matches.

WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS

Pac-12 Tennis Championships

April 24, 2014

Ojai, Calif.

SINGLES

Championship Draw – First round

No. 5 Lynn Chi (Cal) def. Maria Biryukova (WSU) 6-4, 6-1

No. 3 Anett Schutting (Cal) def. Elizaveta Luzina (WSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

Elianne Douglas-Miron (Wash.) def. Lize Leenknecht (WSU) 6-3, 6-3

Invitational Draw – First Round

No. 4 Akilah James (Ariz.) def. Dajana Ognjenovic (WUS) 6-1, 6-0

No. 6 Zoe Katz (USC) def. Olga Musilovich (WUS) 6-3, 6-4