FOLLOW LIVE:
THIS WEEK: Washington State tennis (2-0) hosts Montana (0-0) and Eastern Washington (1-1) in a doubleheader Saturday, Jan.23. The match against Montana begins at 11 a.m., with free coffee and doughnuts. Eastern Washington is slated to follow at 5 p.m. with free pizza for fans in attendance. The matches will be held at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse.
LAST TIME OUT: The Washington State tennis team opened its 2016 dual season in convincing fashion with a 7-0 victory against Montana State and a 7-0 win over Idaho. The win over Montana State was the 200th in the career of head coach Lisa Hart, who picked up her 155th while leading WSU to go with 45 while head coach at Virginia Tech. The victory over Montana State also marks the 11th-straight year the Cougars began the season with a victory and third-straight year with an opening day sweep.
BASHOTA OFF TO HOT START: Sophomore Donika Bashota is off to a fast start this season, posting a 19-2 record, including a 4-1 mark in dual matches. The Lidkoping, Sweden, native opened the fall season with a 15-1 record. The last Cougar to start off this well was Liudmila Vasilieva, who went 27-2 to start the 2011-2012 season.
ALL-TIME AGAINST MONTANA: Washington State will square off against Montana for the 37th time since 1978. In 36 meetings, the Cougars are 32-4 all-time against the Grizzlies. Coach Hart holds an 8-0 record against Montana, during her tenure as WSU's head coach.
ALL-TIME AGAINST EASTERN WASHINGTON: Washington State will face Eastern Washington for the 34th time since 1978. In 33 meetings, the Cougars are 31-2 all-time against the Eagles. Coach Hart holds an 11-0 record against Eastern Washington, during her tenure as WSU's head coach.
COUGARS GARNER ITA RANKINGS: Sophomore Donika Bashota earned a No. 83 national ranking in the first spring ranking of the season. She also came in with a No. 6 Northwest Region ranking after finishing the 2015 fall season with a 15-1 record. Senior Trang Huynh garnered a No. 15 regional ranking following her first fall season of competition posting an 11-6 record.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2015-16 season the Cougars will have three new faces to go with five returners. The returning roster includes seniors Maria Biryukova and Lize Leenknecht, junior Victoria Matejevic, and sophomores Holly Monahan and Donika Bashota. New to the squad this season are senior Trang Huyhn, who arrives in Pullman after transferring from Troy, and freshmen Barbora Michalkova and Aneta Miksovska.
COACH HART: Lisa Hart is in her 13th season as the head coach of Washington State. Hart has accumulated 156 wins over her tenure, registering a 13-12 record last season. In 2012, the Cougars went 19-7 as Hart was awarded the Pac-12 Conference Women's Tennis Coach of the Year award.
LAST SEASON IN REVIEW: Washington State finished off dual match play with a 13-12 overall record in 2015. The Cougars finished 11th in a competitive Pac-12 conference that had the top nine teams finishing with national rankings. WSU started the spring season national ranked at No. 52 and remained in the ranking through February. Departed from last year's squad is Elizaveta Luzina (26-22 singles record), number three all-time on WSU career singles victories list, and Nastia Vasyukhina (18-24).
PARKING AT HOLLINGBERY: Fans coming to Cougar Tennis matches this season can park in the Yellow 1 parking lot located directly south of Beasley Coliseum. There will not be any charge for parking on weekends, and daily passes can be purchased for weekday contests. Another option for tennis fans to park would be the Library Garage. The garage costs $3 for the entire day to park on either a Saturday or Sunday.