THIS WEEK: The Cougars (5-0) travel to Stanford, Calif. this weekend for the 2019 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kickoff Weekend. Competing at the Stanford Regional, WSU will face SMU in its first match, Saturday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m.  The Cougars will then face either No. 1 Stanford for Saint Mary's Sunday, depending upon Saturday's match results.
 
2019 ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND: The 11th Annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend takes place January 25-28, 2019, at 24 different Division I tennis facilities across the country. In all, there are 60 teams competing per gender in ITA Kick-Off Weekend events. There are 15 "regionals" played on both the men's and women's side, with four teams competing in each regional. The winners of the single-elimination event advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships. Washington (women's) and Illinois (men's) will serve as hosts for the National Team Indoors and received automatic invitations to the event and are exempt from competing in the Kick-Off Weekend.
 
ABOUT SMU: SMU begins the week with an 0-2 record on the young season, dropping a pair matches to No. 17 Texas Tech and Oklahoma by identical 4-3 scores. The Mustangs finished last season ranked No. 54.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Cougars improved to 5-0 last weekend as they swept a pair of matches at Montana, 7-0, and then defeated Michigan State 4-1 on a neutral court.

UP NEXT: If the Cougars capture the Stanford Regional of the ITA Kickoff Weekend, they are scheduled to play at the ITA National Championships in Seattle, Feb. 8-10. If they do not, WSU will next be in action Feb. 8 at Baylor.
  
COUGARS OFF TO FAST START: The start to the 2018-19 season has been a strong one for many WSU players. Senior Tiffany Mylonas is 15-0 in singles play this season, including a 5-0 mark in dual matches. Senior Aneta Miksovska is 14-1 while junior Melisa Ates is 13-1. Three freshman have also been impressive in their debuts, as Yang Lee is 12-2, Hikaru Sato is 11-3 and Savanna Ly-Nguyen is 8-0. As a team WSU is a combined 85-13 (.867) in singles play this season.

MIKSOVSKA CLIMBING CAREER WINS LIST: Cougar senior Aneta Miksovska enters the week with 88 career victories, sixth on the all-time wins list at WSU. Former Cougar player and assistant coach, Eka Burduli, is fifth with 90 career wins while Ksenia Googe is fourth with 92.
 
COUGARS ADD SAVANNA LY-NGUYEN AND MADDIE EGAN: Washington State University Head Tennis Coach Lisa Hart recently announced that Savanna Ly-Nguyen has signed a national letter of intent to join the Cougar tennis program and enrolled at WSU in January 2019. Ly-Nguyen, a native of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, has been one of the top juniors in her Canadian province throughout her career. Maddie Egan will also join the Cougar lineup in the fall of 2019. Egan is currently a senior at Rogers High School in Puyallup and was named the Washington State Tennis Player of the Year by the Tacoma Athletic Commission in 2018

BAYERLOVA HAS ANOTHER STRONG FALL SEASON: Sophomore Michaela Bayerlova played in two professional tournament during the fall, highlighted by reaching the final of the $15,000 ITF Hilton Head event. Following the tournament, Bayerlova saw her world ranking rise to No. 600. She moved on to the $25,000 ITF Charleston tournament, winning her first-round match before falling to the event's top seed, Reix Sherazad of France, ranked No. 293, in the second round. Bayerlova began the fall season at the ITA/Oracle Master's, her only collegiate event of the fall. After posting wins in her first two rounds, both against nationally-ranked players, Bayerlova fell to Pepperdine's Evgeniya Levashova, ranked No. 41 nationally, in the quarterfinals. Bayerlova and Baylor's Sven Lah also reached the championship match in the mixed doubles draw. Bayerlova enters the spring season with an ITA singles ranking of 83, after finishing the 2018 season at 29.
 
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2018-19 season the Cougars will have four 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 freshmen Yang Lee, Savanna Ly-Nguyen and Hikaro Sato.
 
COACH HART: Lisa Hart is in her 16th season as the head coach at Washington State. Hart has accumulated a record of 207-177 (.539) over her tenure, finishing the 2018 season with a 21-7 record.