(April 4, 2025) THIS WEEK: The No. 59-ranked Washington State Tennis team (13-5 overall, 3-0 in WCC play) heads to Southern California for a pair of West Coast Conference matches against Loyola Marymount and No. 23 Pepperdine this week. The Cougars begin the weekend Saturday, April 5 at Loyola Marymount at 11 a.m. at the LMU Tennis Center. On Sunday, the Cougars head up the coast to face No. 23 Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. that match is scheduled for a Noon start.
FOLLOW LIVE: Both matches will have live streams and live stats.
For LMU, the live stream can be found HERE and live stats HERE
For Pepperdine, the live stream can be found HERE and live stats HERE
SCOUTING LMU: The Lions enter Saturday's match with a 4-10 record, 2-2 in West Coast Conference play. In its last outing, LMU nearly upset No. 23 Pepperdine, falling 4-2. LMU's doubles team is Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik and Anastasia Bozova are ranked No. 49 nationally. WSU leads the all-time series, 2-1, including a 4-0 victory in 2006, the last time the teams met.
SCOUTING PEPPERDINE: The Waves enter the weekend with an 8-8 mark, 2-0 in WCC play, and a No. 23 national ranking. Pepperdine travels to face Washington Friday before resuming WCC play Sunday in Malibu. The Waves, which have won 82 consecutive WCC matches, are led by No. 1 Vivian Yang and No. 2 Anastasiia Grechkina, who is ranked No. 87 nationally. Pepperdine leads the all-time series against WSU 2-0, including a 4-1 win in 2014, the last meeting in the series.
COUGARS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: In the latest ITA rankings, released April 1, WSU sits at No. 59 after reaching a season-high of No. 45 in late February. The Cougars' No. 1 doubles team of Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy, who entered the rankings for the first time this season in late February at No. 88, skyrocketed up the charts to No. 34 nationally and enter the match at No. 40.
COUGAR NOTES:
COUGARS TO PLAY IN WEST COAST CONFERENCE: For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, the Cougars will be an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference. When conference realignment impacted the Pac-12 Conference following the 2023-24 season, Cougar Tennis was one of 10 WSU athletic programs to become WCC affiliate members. The membership status will be for two years until the Pac-12 resumes full-membership status beginning with the 2026-27 season.
LAST TIME OUT: WSU defeated Pacific at home, 4-0, improving to 3-0 in WCC play.
NEXT UP: Following Sunday's match at Pepperdine, the Cougars face Portland, in Portland, April 12.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2024-25 season, the Cougars have three freshmen to accompany the six returners. The roster consists of seniors Hania Abouelsaad and Elyse Tse, juniors Maxine Murphy, Eva Alvarez Sande, Yura Nakagawa, sophomore Martina Markov and freshman Chisato Kanemaki, Martina Puvill and Madhu Satishbabu.
COACH RAQUEL ATAWO: Raquel Atawo is in her fourth season as head coach of the Cougars after being named to the position July 2, 2021. 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 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.
FOLLOW LIVE: Both matches will have live streams and live stats.
For LMU, the live stream can be found HERE and live stats HERE
For Pepperdine, the live stream can be found HERE and live stats HERE
SCOUTING LMU: The Lions enter Saturday's match with a 4-10 record, 2-2 in West Coast Conference play. In its last outing, LMU nearly upset No. 23 Pepperdine, falling 4-2. LMU's doubles team is Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik and Anastasia Bozova are ranked No. 49 nationally. WSU leads the all-time series, 2-1, including a 4-0 victory in 2006, the last time the teams met.
SCOUTING PEPPERDINE: The Waves enter the weekend with an 8-8 mark, 2-0 in WCC play, and a No. 23 national ranking. Pepperdine travels to face Washington Friday before resuming WCC play Sunday in Malibu. The Waves, which have won 82 consecutive WCC matches, are led by No. 1 Vivian Yang and No. 2 Anastasiia Grechkina, who is ranked No. 87 nationally. Pepperdine leads the all-time series against WSU 2-0, including a 4-1 win in 2014, the last meeting in the series.
COUGARS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: In the latest ITA rankings, released April 1, WSU sits at No. 59 after reaching a season-high of No. 45 in late February. The Cougars' No. 1 doubles team of Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy, who entered the rankings for the first time this season in late February at No. 88, skyrocketed up the charts to No. 34 nationally and enter the match at No. 40.
COUGAR NOTES:
- The doubles team of Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy were named the WCC Doubles Team of the Week, Mar. 31, the third time this season the Cougar duo earned the conference honor.
- Redshirt-junior Maxine Murphy has a team-best 14-3 dual record in singles, all coming at No. 2 singles
- The Cougars are 3-0 in WCC play, having won all three matches by identical 4-0 scores
- Redshirt-junior Maxine Murphy and senior Elyse Tse current have four-match winning streaks in singles
- The Cougars are 2-1 all-time against LMU and 0-2 all-time against Pepperdine.
COUGARS TO PLAY IN WEST COAST CONFERENCE: For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, the Cougars will be an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference. When conference realignment impacted the Pac-12 Conference following the 2023-24 season, Cougar Tennis was one of 10 WSU athletic programs to become WCC affiliate members. The membership status will be for two years until the Pac-12 resumes full-membership status beginning with the 2026-27 season.
LAST TIME OUT: WSU defeated Pacific at home, 4-0, improving to 3-0 in WCC play.
NEXT UP: Following Sunday's match at Pepperdine, the Cougars face Portland, in Portland, April 12.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2024-25 season, the Cougars have three freshmen to accompany the six returners. The roster consists of seniors Hania Abouelsaad and Elyse Tse, juniors Maxine Murphy, Eva Alvarez Sande, Yura Nakagawa, sophomore Martina Markov and freshman Chisato Kanemaki, Martina Puvill and Madhu Satishbabu.
COACH RAQUEL ATAWO: Raquel Atawo is in her fourth season as head coach of the Cougars after being named to the position July 2, 2021. 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 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.