While most Washington State students spent the last week of November away from Pullman, relaxing at home and enjoying their Thanksgiving break, sophomore tennis standout Savanna Ly-Nguyen had other plans.
 
Half way across the world in Manila, Philippines, Ly-Nguyen prepared to represent Vietnam at the Southeast Asian Games, Nov. 30-Dec. 10 as a member of the Vietnamese tennis team. This is Ly-Nguyen's second stint at the Southeast Asian Games, also representing Vietnam in Indonesia in 2017.
 
"My first experience at the Southeast Asian Games was invaluable," said Ly-Nguyen, who joined the Cougar tennis team in January of 2019 and played in the middle of the WSU lineup last season. "I met a lot of really good tennis players and though I didn't win any matches, it was a great experience overall."
 
Ly-Nguyen enters this year's Games coming off a solid fall season for the Cougars. In three events, she posted a combined 7-3 record, reaching the finals of the Cougar Classic in early October. After practicing throughout the fall, the native of Brampton, Ontario, Canada fells more ready to compete this time around.
 
"I feel very honored to be chosen as a part of the Vietnamese team," she said. "It's great to represent my native country and I'm excited to go and play to the best of my abilities. I've worked hard throughout the fall and I'm ready to go and compete against some very good players."
 
The process to select Ly-Nguyen to the Vietnamese team goes back three or four years to when she played tournaments in Vietnam.
 
"I have gone to Vietnam many times over the course of the past 3-4 years playing many tournaments and I have had a lot of success," said Ly-Nguyen.  "I've won a number of tournaments and based on my results, they asked me if I wanted to represent them. I thought that was a great opportunity so of course I said yes. That was for 2017 and then they asked me again for this year."
 
Ly-Nguyen takes great pride in representing Vietnam, reflecting on what the country means to her parents.
 
"I haven't lived there but from what my parents have told me about the country, it is just a great honor," she said. "My parents were raised there and they love their country which makes me love it also.  When I have been there it is so beautiful and I'm proud to have two citizenships, for Vietnam and for Canada, my home country.
 
"I've also met a lot of people who are really passionate about tennis the same way that we are over here (in North America) and I've made a lot of friends, which is another tremendous benefit of being on the team," Ly-Nguyen added.
 
The Southeast Asian Games are a biennial regional multi-sport event which will feature roughly 530 athletes spread across 56 sports. For tennis, which runs Dec. 1-7, the events include men's and women's singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles.