THIS WEEK: The Washington State tennis team (8-0) looks to hold on to its perfect season as the No. 74-ranked Cougars travel to Santa Barbara, Calif., for a weekend doubleheader. Washington State begins play Saturday, Feb. 13, against Memphis (1-3) at 1 p.m., while later in the day the Cougars will face their first ranked opponent of the year taking on No. 60 UC Santa Barbara (0-3), at 5 p.m. UC Santa Barbara is 0-3 against ITA-ranked teams this season, falling to No. 11 USC, No. 53 Utah and No. 36 Oklahoma.
LAST TIME OUT: The Washington State tennis team improved to 8-0 on the season as the Cougars defeated the Seattle Redhawks and Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Hollingbery Fieldhouse. Washington State opened play Saturday morning with a dominant 7-0 victory over Seattle. Later that day, WSU continued their home court dominance with another sweep, posting a 7-0 win over Northern Arizona.
COUGARS RANKED IN ITA POLL: After starting the season 8-0, Washington State is ranked 74th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll. WSU reached a high of No. 52 last season.
BASHOTA OFF TO HOT START: Sophomore Donika Bashota is off to a fast start this season, posting a 25-2 record, including an 8-0 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's two victories last weekend moved her up on WSU's top-10 singles victories list. Biryukova's 78 wins puts her at ninth on the list. The Moscow, Russia, native now looks to climb farther up the list. With one more victory, Biryukova would share eighth on the list with Andrea Reisz (1996-99).
ALL-TIME AGAINST MEMPHIS: Washington State will square off against Memphis for the first time in school history.
ALL-TIME AGAINST UC SANTA BARBARA: Washington State will face UC Santa Barbara for the seventh time since 1996. In six meetings, the Cougars are 5-1 all-time against the Gauchos. Coach Hart holds a 3-1 record against UCSB during her tenure as WSU's head coach.
COUGARS GARNER ITA RANKINGS: Sophomore Donika Bashota earned a No. 120 national ranking in the latest ITA poll. In the first regional rankings of the year, Bashota was named the No. 6 Northwest Regional player 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 162 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.