FOLLOW LIVE:
THIS WEEK: Washington State tennis (4-0) looks to remain undefeated hosting Kansas State (1-0) and North Texas (1-0). The Cougars open play against Kansas State Friday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m., with free pizza for fans in attendance. The Cougars then take on North Texas Sunday, Jan. 31 at noon, with free coffee and doughnuts provided. Both matches will be held at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse.
LAST TIME OUT: The Washington State tennis team improved to 4-0 on the season as the Cougars defeated the Montana Grizzlies and Eastern Washington Eagles in a doubleheader at Hollingbery Fieldhouse. Washington State opened the doubleheader with an easy 7-0 victory over Montana, while later in the day, WSU continued their home court dominance with another 7-0 sweep over EWU.
BASHOTA OFF TO HOT START: Sophomore Donika Bashota is off to a fast start this season, posting a 21-2 record, including a 6-1 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.
RECORD WATCH: Senior Maria Biryukova sits at 74 career singles victories, only two wins away from entering WSU's top-10 singles victories list. Biryukova trails Marsha Senn (1993-96) and Amy Toth (2003-07), who both have 76 career victories.
ALL-TIME AGAINST KANSAS STATE: Washington State will square off against Kansas State for only the second time since 1996. The Cougars fell in their first meeting against the Wildcats, 6-0.
ALL-TIME AGAINST NORTH TEXAS: Washington State will face North Texas for the second time since 1987. In the first meeting, North Texas came away with the 8-1 victory.
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 158 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.
COVERAGE: Fans can follow the Cougars all season long with live stats at www.wsu.statbroadcast.com.