THIS WEEK: The Cougars (2-0) travel to Stanford, Calif. this weekend for the 2020 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kickoff Weekend. Competing at the Stanford Regional, WSU will face Denver in its first match, Saturday, Jan. 25 at 11 a.m.  The Cougars will then face either No. 1 Stanford or South Florida Sunday, Jan. 26, depending upon Saturday's match results. Sunday's match will also begin at 11 a.m.
 
2020 ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND: The 12th Annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend takes place January 24-27, 2020, at 26 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. Illinois (women's) and Wisconsin (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.
 
SCOUTING DENVER: Denver opened its 2020 spring schedule last weekend with 7-0 and 6-1 victories over Air Force and Gonzaga, respectively. The Pioneers are led by sophomore Taylor Melville, who this week was named Summit League Player of the Week after posting a 2-0 mark at #1 singles and #1 doubles last weekend. Denver finished last season with a 17-6 record and No. 45 national ranking. The all-time series is even at 1-1, with WSU winning in 2014 and Denver capturing the initial meeting in 2008.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Washington State began its spring dual season with a pair of 7-0 sweeps over Idaho and Seattle last weekend in Pullman. The Cougars dominated, not dropping a set in either match.
 
UP NEXT: Washington State returns to Pullman to host BYU Saturday, Feb. 1 at Noon.
 
ATES CLIMBING WINS LIST: Senior Melisa Ates enters the weekend with 82 career singles victories, 10th on WSU's all-time list. Next up are a trio of players with 87 wins, including Erica Perkins, Andjela Kankaras and Maria Biryukova.
 
2019 FALL RECAP: The Cougars' Fall campaign was highlighted by some notable accomplishments. Senior Melisa Ates compiled a 10-1 singles record and an 8-1 mark in doubles play, highlighted by winning the B Flight Singles Title at the Cougar Classic and the Redbird Invite in A Flight Singles. She also defeated No. 24 Julia Rosenqvist of California in straight sets at the ITA Northwest Regional. Sophomore Savanna Ly-Nguyen capped her fall season by competing in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in Manila, Philippines. After failing to win a match in 2017 at these same games, Ly-Nguyen reached the finals, capturing the Silver medal. Sophomore Hikaru Sato was another player with a strong fall season, winning two doubles titles along with the A Flight singles title at the Cougar Classic. Junior Michaela Bayerlova spent parts of her fall season competing in professional tournaments in Kansas, California and Canada. In September, Bayerlova reached the Round of 16 at the $15k Lawrence, Kan. event then won two qualifying victories at the $60k Toronto event before falling in first round of the main draw.
 
COUGARS SIGN TWO FOR 2020 CLASS: During the 2019-20 signing period, Head Coach Lisa Hart added two future Cougars with the signings of Hania Abouelsaad and Lunda "Fifa" Kumhom. Abouelsaad, a native of Alexandria, Egypt, has been one of the top juniors in Egypt over the past few years and has a career-best 10.9 UTR. In 2019, she has reached the quarterfinals in four of her last five tournaments, capturing the J5 Cairo title last month, her fourth career International Tennis Federation junior title. She has reached an ITF Junior career-high of 169 in 2018 and is ranked among the top juniors in Egypt. Kumhom, a native of Bangkok, Thailand, has been one of the top juniors in Thailand over the past few years and has a career-best 11.44 UTR. In 2019, Kumhom reached three the semifinals in three singles events, two G2 and one G3, while also captured two doubles titles and reaching the final of a third. She was a member of Thailand's ASEAN School Games and was a reserve for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games team. She holds a career-best ITF junior ranking of 132, achieved early in 2019.
 
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 sophomores Yang Lee, Savanna Ly-Nguyen and Hikaru Sato. Newcomers include freshman Maddie Egan, Pang Jittakoat and Carla Quadflieg.
 
COACH HART: Lisa Hart is in her 17th season as the head coach at Washington State. Hart has accumulated a 223-188 (.543) record her tenure, finishing last season with a 19-11 record and a third trip to the NCAA Championships.