THIS WEEK: The Cougars open their fall season by hosting the 2019 Cougar Classic, Oct. 4-6 at the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts. Play begins at 10 a.m. all three days.
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COUGAR CLASSIC DRAWS SET: The 2019 Cougar Classic will consist of four flights of singles and two flights of doubles. Friday's schedule will feature two doubles and one singles match, while Saturday includes one doubles and two singles matches. Sunday will be finals in each flight. The Cougars will be represented by senior
Melisa Ates, sophomores
Savanna Ly-Nguyen and
Hikaru Sato, and freshmen
Carla Quadflieg and
Maddie Egan. Sato and Ly-Nguyen will compete in the Crimson Singles Flight, Ates in Gray Singles, Quadflieg in Cougar Singles and Egan in Palouse Singles. In doubles play, Ates and Sato will compete in the Crimson Flight while Ly-Nguyen and Quadflieg will play in the Gray Flight.
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COUGAR CLASSIC FIELD: Joining WSU in the 2019 Cougar Classic field will be Boise State, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Idaho, Montana, Montana State, Seattle and Utah State.
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BAYERLOVA, JITTAKOAT COMPETING IN CALIFORNIA: Junior
Michaela Bayerlova and freshman
Pang Jittakoat will compete in the $25k ITF Claremont event in Claremont, Calif., Oct. 7-13. Both Bayerlova and Jittakoat are competing in the singles qualifying draw and will also pair together for the doubles draw. Bayerlova enters the event with a world ranking of 574, while Jittakoat stands at 1,259.
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ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2019-20 season the Cougars will have three new players to accompany the five returners. The returning roster consists of seniors
Melisa Ates and
Jovana Knezevic, junior
Michaela Bayerlova and sophomore
Yang Lee,
Savanna Ly-Nguyen and
Hikaru Sato. Newcomers include freshman
Maddie Egan,
Pang Jittakoat and
Carla Quadflieg.
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BAYERLOVA STARTS 2019 AT NO. 27 IN ITA PRESEASON RANKING: Washington State sophomore
Michaela Bayerlova begins the 2019-20 season No. 27 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason rankings. Bayerlova, from Krumbach, Germany, finished her 2019 season ranked No. 45 after reaching the NCAA Championships for the second-straight year.  In doubles, sophomore
Hikaru Sato and freshman
Pang Jittakoat enter the season ranked No. 32
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COACH HART:
Lisa Hart is entering her 17th season as the head coach at Washington State. Hart has accumulated a 221-118 (.540) record her tenure, finishing the last season with a 19-11 record and a third trip to the NCAA Championships.
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