THIS WEEK: The Cougars open their fall season as they compete by hosting the 2018 Cougar Classic, Sept. 21-23 at the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts.  UNLV Fall Invitational, Sept. 22-24, in Las Vegas, Nev. Play begins at 10 a.m. Friday all three days. Additionally, sophomore Michaela Bayerlova was invited to play at the 2018 Oracle/ITA Masters in Malibu, Calif., Sept. 20-23.
 
COUGAR CLASSIC DRAWS SET: The 2018 Cougar Classic will consist of two flights of singles and two flights of doubles. Friday's schedule will feature two singles and one doubles match, while Saturday includes one singles and two doubles matches. Sunday will be finals in each flight. The cougars will be represented by senior Tiffany Mylonas, along with freshmen Hikaro Sato and Yang Lee in the Crimson Singles Flight, while senior Aneta Miksovska will be joined by juniors Melisa Ates and Ege Tomey in the Gray Flight. In doubles play, Ates and Yang will compete in the Crimson Doubles Flight and will be joined by Mylonas and Sato. Miksovska and Tomey will play in the Gray Doubles Flight.
 
COUGAR CLASSIC FIELD: Joining WSU in the 2018 Cougar Classic field tournament will be Seattle, Idaho, Boise State and Montana State.
 
BAYERLOVA IN ORACLE/ITA MASTER'S FIELD: Sophomore Michaela Bayerlova was an at-large selection for the Oracle/ITA Masters. The event features the returning Player of the Year (or other, as determined by the selection criteria) from each Division I athletic conference, with two additional wild card spots. Bayerlova enters as the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will face Army's Ana Joyner in Thursday's first round. Bayerlova will also compete in the Mixed Doubles event, teaming with Baylor's Sven Lah. The pair is seeded No. 6 in the field.
 
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 202 wins over her tenure, finishing the last season with a 21-7 record.