THIS WEEK: The Washington State women's tennis team begins its 2017 spring season by competing at the 2017 Hawaii Spring Invitational, Jan. 5-7 at Lahaina, Maui. The Cougars will be joined by host Hawaii and Kansas. The three-team tournament consists of singles and doubles matches in a non-team scoring format.
UP NEXT: Following the Hawaii Spring Invitational, the Cougars return home to open the dual match season with a doubleheader at the Simmelink Tennis Courts against Seattle and Eastern Washington. The Seattle match begins at 10 a.m. with Eastern Washington to follow at 5 p.m.
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. At the ITA Northwest Region Championships, freshman sophomore Aneta Miksovska reached the third round while freshman Guzal Yusupova feel to the No. 7 overall seed in two close sets in the second round. Following are fall records for the Cougars: Melisa Ates (8-2), Lejla Colic (3-4), Victoria Matejevic (5-6), Barbora Michalkova (7-4), Aneta Miksovska (8-3), Ege Tomey (5-5) and Guzal Yusupova (3-1).
MIKSOVSKA LOOKING TO BUILD ON FRESHMAN CAMPAIGN: Sophomore Aneta Miksovska is looking to pick up right where she left off last dual season. The native of Stramberk, Czech Republic, completed her freshman year with a 31-11 singles record, tying the freshman single-season record for wins and tying for the fifth-most wins in a season at WSU. She posted a team-best 19-4 dual-match record and led WSU in Pac-12 conference wins.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2017 season the Cougars will boast a lineup that features four freshmen, one senior, one junior and a sophomore. The returning roster includes senior Victoria Matejevic, junior Barbora Michalkova, sophomore 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: For all home matches, fans wishing to follow the Cougars can go to wsucougars.com to get live results.