THIS WEEK: The Washington State women's tennis team heads to the Pac-12 Championship tournament Wednesday to face No. 27 USC. The Cougars enter the week with a 10-15 overall record while USC begins the championship with an 11-9 record.
 
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP: For the first time, the Pac-12 Conference is ending its season with a team tournament rather than an individual championship. The Cougars enter the event as the No. 11 seed and face No. 6 seed USC Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Weil Courts in Ojai, Calif. The winner of the WSU-USC match advances to the quarterfinal round to face No. 3 seed Arizona State.
 
SCOUTING USC: The Trojans enter the Pac-12 Championship on a hot streak, having won five of its last six matches, including a 4-3 upset of No. 22 UCLA last weekend. The lone loss in that stretch came against No. 13 Pepperdine, a 4-3 setback. USC currently boasts three nationally ranked players: No. 28 Gabby Smith; No. 37 Jessica Failla and No. 122 Zoe Katz. The Trojans also have three doubles teams ranked: No. 41 Rianna Valdes and Failla; No. 48 Katz and Smith; and No. 80 Angela Kulikov and Madison Westby.
 
WSU-USC HISTORY: The Cougars are looking for their first win against the Trojans and are 0-23 in the all-time series. Earlier this season, USC posted a 4-1 victory in Pullman. The Cougars received a win at No. 2 when Guzal Yusupova defeated Rianna Valdez, 6-1, 6-3
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Cougars dropped a 4-0 decision to No. 31 Washington in Pullman last weekend.
 
YUSUPOVA CONTINUES STRONG FRESHMAN SEASON: Freshman Guzal Yusupova has been playing her best tennis of the season over the past month, and been the Cougars' most productive player during the span. She boasts a 14-4 dual match record this season, including a 5-2 record in Pac-12 play at the No. 2 spot. Over her last 10 matches, she is 5-2, including wins over USC and UCLA last month, the first Cougar player to defeat both Los Angeles schools in the same weekend since 2002.
 
 
2017 QUICK NOTES:

• Freshman Guzal Yusupova has had the clinching victory in five of WSU's 10 wins this season
• Freshman Melisa Ates leads the team with 22 singles victories
• Sophomore team captain Aneta Miksovska is one victory shy of the 20-win mark, after posting 31 wins last season.
• Junior Barbora Michalkova and freshman Melissa Ates are 3-2 in Pac-12 doubles play, all at the No. 2 spot.

 
COACH HART: Lisa Hart is in her 14th season as the head coach of Washington State. Hart has accumulated a 181-169 career record, the win total being the most of any coach in WSU tennis history.
 
LIVE STATS: For the latest information on the Pac-12 Women's Tennis Championship, visit http://pac-12.com/sport/womens-tennis.