THIS WEEK: The Washington State Tennis team (4-3 this season) concludes its seven-match stretch away from Pullman as it heads to Lincoln, Neb. to face Nebraska and Minnesota this weekend. The match against Nebraska will be held Friday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. PT at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center. Live scoring and video of the match is available HERE. The Cougars will face Minnesota Saturday at 9 a.m. PT in Lincoln. Live scoring of that match can be found HERE.
 
SCOUTING NEBRASKA: Nebraska enters the week with a 5-1 record this season, coming off a 4-0 win over South Dakota last weekend in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers have yet to play a match away from home this season. The all-time series between the two programs is deadlocked at 2-2, though WSU claimed a 4-1 win in the last meeting, which came during the 2019 campaign.  
 
SCOUTING MINNESOTA: The Gophers enter the week with a 4-2 record. Both losses came at the ITA Kickoff Weekend (Oklahoma and Tulsa), but since then Minnesota has won four straight. Minnesota leads the all-time series, 2-1, including a 5-2 victory last season in Utah.
 
LAST WEEK: WSU earned a pair of victories in Fresno, Calif., defeating Fresno State 95-2) and Cal Poly (6-1).
 
NEXT UP: Washington State returns home for the first time since Jan. 22 when it hosts Eastern Washington Friday, Feb. 24 at Noon. The Cougars will host St. Mary's the following day at 11 a.m. Both matches will be played on the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse.
 
NET NOTES:

• Junior Fifa Kumhom leads the team with 13 singles victories this season.
• Kumhom and freshman Eva Alvarez Sande are tied for the longest current winning streak at three matches.

 
MURPHY CRACKS SINGLES RANKINGS: Sophomore Maxine Murphy is ranked No. 111 in the most recent ITA Singles rankings, which were released Feb. 8. This marks the first time in her young career that Murphy has achieved a national ranking.
 
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 is in 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.