THIS WEEK: The Washington State Tennis team plays its first road dual match of the season when it travels to Charlottesville, Va., for the opening rounds of the 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend, hosted by the University of Virginia, Jan. 27-28 at the Boar's Head Sports Club. WSU will face No. 8 Virginia in the opening round, Friday, Jan. 27 at Noon PT. WSU will then face either South Carolina or Northwestern Saturday pending Friday's match results.
 
ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND: The ITA Kickoff Weekend is one of the marquee events of the spring season bringing together the top 60 men's and women's college tennis teams. Hosted by 15 men's and women's programs from across the country, the ITA Kickoff Weekend is an early-season test for teams against programs they might not typically face. Winners of each of the 15 regional sites advance to the 2023 ITA National Teams Indoors, Feb. 10-13 in Seattle. 
 
ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND (VIRGINIA REGIONAL)
Live Video for Both Days: https://virginiasports.com/womens-live-tennis-video/
Friday, January 27
Noon - #8 Virginia vs. Washington State
3 p.m. – Northwestern vs. South Carolina
 
Saturday, January 28
12:30 p.m. – Championship Match
3:30 p.m. – Consolation Match
*All times Pacific
 
LAST WEEK The Cougars concluded their two-match homestand to open the season by defeating Gonzaga, 4-3, at Hollingbery Fieldhouse. WSU picked up four singles victories to secure the win.
 
SCOUTING VIRGINIA: Virginia enters the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a 2-0 record and ranked No. 8 nationally. The Cavaliers opened the season with wins over Richmond (7-0) and James Madison (6-1) last weekend. Virginia has six players nationally ranked, including two in the top 50 in Julia Adams (34) and Elaine Chervinsky (50). The Cavaliers also have three doubles teams nationally ranked, led by No. 3 Elaine Chervinsky / Natasha Subhash. Friday's match marks the first meeting between the two schools.
 
NEXT UP: Following the ITA Kickoff Weekend, Washington State travels to Utah to face BYU, Saturday, Feb. 4.
 
MURPHY NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  Sophomore Maxine Murphy was named the Pac-12 Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week, the conference office announced Jan. 17. The sophomore from Laguna Nigel, Calif. captured the conference's first player of the week honor for the 2023 season after posting a pair of victories in the Cougars' 7-0 victory over Montana last Friday. Murphy teamed with freshman Eva Alvarez Sande for a 7-5 win over Hailey Murphy and Grace Haugen at No. 1 doubles and followed that with a convincing 6-0, 6-1 win over Hailey Murphy at No. 1 singles. The honor marks the first of Murphy's career.
 
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2022-23 season the Cougars will have three new players to accompany the six returners. The returning roster consists of fifth-year senior Yang Lee, junior Fifa Kumhom and sophomores Hania Abouelsaad, Stefaniia Mikhailova, Maxine Murphy and Elyse Tse. Joining the Cougar tennis program this year are freshmen Eva Alvarez Sande, Yura Nakagawa and Tiffany Phout.
 
COACH RAQUEL ATAWO: Raquel Atawo begins her second season as head coach of the Cougars after being named to the position July 2, 2021. In Atawo's first year leading Washington State Tennis, the Cougars showed great improvement throughout the season, finishing with a, 8-15 record, but posted back-to-back wins late in the season over nationally-ranked Washington. Atawo arrived in Pullman having spent the 2021 season as the assistant coach at Auburn and prior to that, spent 15 years on the WTA Tour, where she reached a No. 10 world ranking in doubles.
  
FOLLOW THE COUGARS: Keep up with Washington State tennis by following @WSUCougarTennis on Twitter, @wsucougartennis on Instagram, and Washington State Cougar Tennis on Facebook.