Santa Barbara, Calif. – The No. 74 Washington State tennis team earned a gritty 4-3 win over No. 60 UC Santa Barbara, Saturday evening at Elings Park. The Cougars 10-0 record is the best start in school history.

Washington State found themselves in a hole early, surrendering the doubles point. The No. 3 duo of Barbara Michalkova and Aneta Miksovska couldn't find their form, falling to Lou Adler and Amanda Atanasson, 6-1. At No. 2, Maria Biryukova and Trang Huynh gave WSU a chance at the doubles point taking down Jaimee Gilbertson and Stephanie Yamada, 6-4. Donika Bashota and Lize Leenknecht could not secure the point, as the No. 1 doubles pair were outdueled 6-4 by the No. 10 ranked doubles pair of Palina Dubavets and Stefani Stojic.

In singles play, No. 1 Biryukova fell to Dubavets in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. The Cougars found themselves two points down in the overall team match, but freshman Bashota, at No. 2, put WSU on the board and added to her unbeaten streak with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Stojic. With the win, Bashota ties Liudmila Vasilieva (2011-12), with the best overall start to a season accruing 27 wins and only two losses to start the year.

At No. 6, Leenknecht was able to draw the score even after she defeated Melissa Baker in a hard-fought 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory, while Huynh put WSU up 3-2 momentarily, as she bested Gilbertson 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in a back-and-forth match. The Gauchos were able to even the score at 3-3 as Michalkova dropped a close third set to Adler, falling 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

The Cougars were able to capture the 4-3 win on the back of Miksovska at No. 5, against Natalie Da Silveira. Miksovska won the first set 6-3, but fell in a close-fought second set, 7-5. The match came down to the third set where Miksovska was able to put away the Gauchos as she posted a 6-1 third set victory, winning the match 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

Washington State returns home for a Sunday doubleheader, Feb. 21. The first match begins at 10 a.m., as the Cougars take on Utah State, while play is slated to begin at 5 p.m. against Lewis-Clark State, at Hollingbery Fieldhouse.

Doubles:
No. 1 #10 Dubavets/Stojic (UCSB) def. Bashota/Leenknecht (WSU) 6-4
No. 2 Biryukova/Huynh (WSU) def. Gilbertson/Yamada (UCSB) 6-4
No. 3 Atanasson/Adler (UCSB) def. Michalkova/Miksovska (WSU) 6-1
Order of Finish: 3,2,1

Singles:
No. 1 Palina Dubavets (UCSB) def. Maria Biryukova (WSU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 #120 Donika Bashota (WSU) def. Stefani Stojic (UCSB) 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 Lou Adler (UCSB) def. Barbora Michalkova (WSU) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 4 Trang Huynh (WSU) def. Jaimee Gilbertson (UCSB) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
No. 5 Aneta Miksovska (WSU) def. Natalie Da Silveira (UCSB) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
No. 6 Lize Leenknecht (WSU) def. Melissa Baker (UCSB) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
Order of Finish: 1,2,6,4,3,5