THIS WEEK: The Washington State women's tennis team concludes the 2016 fall season at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Stanford, Calif., which is slated to run Oct. 21- 25, at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Play begins at 9 a.m. on Friday.
LAST TIME OUT: At the 2016 UNLV Invitational, sophomore Bara Michalkova took home the championship of the first consolation flight by defeating Monica Mitta of Southern Alabama, 6-1, 6-0. Freshman Melissa Ates posted a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Fresno State's Olivia Noble, earning her the fourth singles consolation flight crown. Two Cougars fell in the fight for third place. In the second singles flight, Aneta Miksovska fell to Long Beach State's Haley Thompson, 6-2, 6-2, while freshman Ege Tomey battled against Alina Zolotareva of Southern Alabama, falling in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Senior Victoria Matejevic dominated the first set of the third singles flight 6-0 against Long Beach State's Laura Eales, and then won after Eales retired during the second set.
ITA NORTHWEST REGIONALS: In addition to Washington State and host Stanford, the ITA's Northwest Region field is comprised teams from California, Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon, Pacific, Portland, Portland State, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, San Jose State, Santa Clara, Seattle, UC Davis and Washington.
ITA REGIONAL DRAWS SET: The 2016 Northwest Regional will consist of a 128 player draw and a 64-team doubles draw. The Cougar doubles lineup will include Colic and Miksovska, Ates and Matejevic and lastly, Michalkova and Yusupova.
FALL SEASON RECAP: The 2016 fall season began with the annual Cougar Classic tournament. Newcomer Ates and returner Miksovska garnered first place singles titles, while the sophomore duo of Michalkova and Miksovska took home the doubles crown. At the 2016 UNLV Invitational, WSU earned consolation single crowns and the pair of Michalkova and Miksovska placed seventh in the second doubles flight. Heading into the final event of the season, here are the current records for the Cougars: Melisa Ates (6-1), Lejla Colic (3-1), Victoria Matejevic (5-3), Barbora Michalkova (5-2), Aneta Miksovska (5-2), Ege Tomey (4-3) and Guzal Yusupova (0-0).
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2016-17 season the Cougars will have three new faces to go with three returners. The returning roster includes senior Victoria Matejevic, sophomores Barbora Michalkova and Aneta Miksovska, and freshmen Melisa Ates, Lejla Colic, Ege Tomey and Guzal Yusupova.
LAST SEASON IN REVIEW: Washington State finished off dual match play with a 17-9 overall record in 2016. The Cougars finished ninth in a competitive Pac-12 conference that had the top ten teams finishing with national rankings. WSU started the season nationally ranked at No.57 and reached a high of No.40 during the season. Departed from last year's squad is Maria Biryukova (30-15 singles record), Trang Huynh (30-15), Lize Leenknecht (19-12), Donika Bashota (36-8) and Holly Monahan (6-7).
COACH HART: Lisa Hart is in her 14th season as the head coach of Washington State. Hart has accumulated 171 wins over her tenure, registering a 17-9 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.
LIVE STATS: Fans wishing to follow the Cougars can go to http://www.flotennis.com/ to get live results.