THIS WEEK: The Washington State women's tennis team continues its four-match homestand as it hosts Pac-12 Conference foes Arizona State and Arizona this weekend. The Cougars open against No. 36 Arizona State, Friday, April 7 at 1:30 p.m. at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse. The weekend concludes when WSU faces Arizona, Sunday, April 9 at 11 a.m. The Cougars enter the week with a 9-10 overall record, 0-5 in Pac-12 play, looking to snap a seven-match skid. Arizona State enters the match with a No. 36 national ranking and a 10-5 record, 3-2 in conference action and riding a three-match winning streak. Arizona enters the weekend with a 10-8 record, 1-4 in Pac-12 play. In their last match, the Wildcats narrowed missed the upset of No. 38 Oregon, 4-3.
WASHINGTON STATE/ASU HISTORY: The Cougars are looking for their first win against the Sun Devils since the 2012 season and are 1-23 in the all-time series. Last season ASU captured a 6-1 victory in Tempe. The Sun Devil lineup boasts three players with national singles rankings: No. 61 Kassidy Jump; No. 80 Sammy Hampton; and No. 88 Kelley Anderson. The Sun Devils also have two doubles teams in the national rankings: No. 72 Anderson and Savannah Slaysman and No. 83 Nicole Fossa Huergo and Alexandra Osborne.
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WASHINGTON STATE/ARIZONA HISTORY: Arizona leads the all-time series, 18-4, with the Cougars' last win coming during the 2012 season, a 6-1 victory in Pullman. Last year the Wildcats captured a 5-2 win in Tucson. Arizona enters this year's match with two players ranked nationally: No. 27 Lauren Marker and No. 113 Paris Corley. Â
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UP NEXT: The Cougars head to the Bay Area to face No. 10 Stanford and No. 18 California, April 14 and 15, respectively.
LAST TIME OUT: The Cougars dropped a pair of 6-1 contest last Sunday against No. 20 UCLA.
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YUSUPOVA PLAYING AT A HIGH LEVEL: 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 boats a 13-3 dual match record this season, including a perfect 4-0 record in Pac-12 play at the No. 2 spot. She has won six-straight matches and is unbeaten in her last nine as three of those were stopped once the team outcome had been decided. Last weekend she won both her matches against USC and UCLA, becoming the first Cougar player to defeat both Los Angeles schools in the same weekend since 2002.
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.
COACH HART: Lisa Hart is in her 14th season as the head coach of Washington State. Hart has accumulated a 180-162 record, the win total being the most of any coach in WSU tennis history. 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/VIDEO: For all home matches, fans wishing to follow the Cougars can go to wsu.statbroadcast.com to get live results. Live video of both matches this week can be found at wsucougars.com.