Cougars Travel South for Long Beach Invitational

Friday, October 5

Long Beach, CA

All Day

Washington State University

Long Beach Invitational

Photo by: Robert Hubner/WSU Photo Services

October 03, 2018 | Tennis

By: Washington State Athletic Communications

THIS WEEK: The Cougars will compete in the Long Beach Invitational, Oct. 5-7 in Long Beach, Calif.. The invitational will consist of four singles flights and two doubles flights. Additionally, sophomore Michaela Bayerlova will play at the $25,000 ITF Charleston event in South Carolina. The tournament takes place Oct. 2-7.

LONG BEACH INVITATIONAL FIELD: At the Long Beach Invitational, WSU will face off against host Long Beach State, as well as Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, Grand Canyon University, Loyola Marymount, Portland State, Montana and UC Riverside. Senior Tiffany Mylonas and freshman Hikaru Sato will play in the A Singles Flight, junior Melisa Ates and freshman Yang Lee in the B Flights, while senior Aneta Miksovska and junior Ege Tomey will be in the C Flight. In doubles play, Sato/Mylonas and Miksovska/Lee will be in the A Flight with Ates and Tomey in the B Flight.

COUGAR CLASSIC RECAP: In their last time on the court, senior Tiffany Mylonas and junior Melisa Ates captured singles titles at the 2018 Cougar Classic. Mylonas captured the Crimson Flight title while Ates was victorious in the Gray Flight. In doubles play, the Crimson final was an all-Cougar affair as Mylonas and freshman Hikaru Sato posted a 7-5 win over Ates and freshman Yang Lee. Sato cruised past Boise State's Lilian Poling, 6-1, 6-3, and Lee defeated Seattle's Jillian Rasmussen, 7-5, 6-1. Junior Ege Tomey fell in her match against Idaho's Marta Magalhaes, 6-2, 6-2.

BAYERLOVA AT ITF HILTON HEAD EVENT: Sophomore Michaela Bayerlova participated in the $15,000 ITF Hilton Head event last week, reaching the finals. Bayerlova reached the final following a strong semifinal showing, defeating doubles partner Rasheeda McAdoo in straight sets. In the final she fell to the top-seed Bianca Turati 7-6, 6-2. In doubles, Bayerlova and McAdoo advanced to the semifinals before falling. Following the tournament, Bayerlova saw her world ranking rise to No. 600.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2018-19 season the Cougars will have three new players to accompany the five returners. The returning roster consists of seniors Aneta Miksovska and Tiffany Mylonas, along with juniors Melisa Ates and Ege Tomey, and sophomore Michaela Bayerlova. Newcomers include junior transfer Jovana Knezevic along with freshman Yang Lee and Hikaro Sato.

BAYERLOVA STARTS 2018 AT NO. 17 IN ITA PRESEASON RANKING: Washington State sophomore Michaela Bayerlova will begin the 2018-19 season No. 17 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason rankings. The ranking is the highest by a Cougar tennis player in program history. Bayerlova, from Krumbach, Germany, finished her 2018 season ranked No. 29 after a tremendous freshman campaign which saw her post a 28-6 overall record, becoming the first WSU player to reach the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship.

COACH HART: Lisa Hart is entering her 16th season as the head coach at Washington State. Hart has accumulated 1202 wins over her tenure, finishing the last season with a 21-7 record.