(February 6, 2025) THIS WEEK: The Washington State Tennis team (6-1) begins a three-road stint away from Pullman when it heads to San Luis Obispo, Calif. to face Cal Poly and Fresno State. The Cougars open at Cal Poly, Friday, Feb. 7 at Noon at the Ronca Tennis Center. The following day, Feb. 8, WSU faces Fresno State in a neutral-site match at 10 a.m. from the Ronca Tennis Center. The Cal Poly match will have live stats provided HERE.
 
SCOUTING CAL POLY: The Mustangs are off to a 2-1 start on the season, opening the year with a win over Northern Arizona before falling to Arizona. In its last outing, Cal Poly defeated Montana State, 6-1, at home. WSU is 3-1 all-time against Cal Poly, including a 2023 6-1 victory at Fresno in the most recent meeting.
 
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE: The Bulldogs bring a 3-1 record into the weekend, with victories over Fresno Pacific, Pacific, and Santa Clara to open the year. FSU dropped a 4-3 decision in its last outing against Sacramento State. Fresno State leads the all-time series, 13-7, though the Cougars have won the last five meetings, including a 5-2 win last season in Spokane.
 
COUGAR NOTES:

• WSU's 6-1 start to the season is the best by a Cougar squad since going 6-1 to begin the 2019 season
• The doubles team of Eva Alvarez Sane and Maxine Murphy were named the WCC Doubles Team of the Week, Jan. 14.
• RS-junior Maxine Murphy was named the WCC Singles Player of the Week, Jan. 21
• Redshirt-junior Maxine Murphy is 7-0 in dual matches this season, all at No. 2 singles
• Sophomore Martina Markow is 5-0 in dual matches, 2-0 at No. 5, 3-0 at No. 6
• The Cougars have won the last five meetings against Fresno State

 
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 held on for a 4-3 home victory over BYU last Friday, with freshman Martina Puvill pulling out a three-set victory to secure the win.  
 
NEXT UP: Following the Fresno State match, the Cougars remain on the road with a Feb. 14 matchup against Washington in Seattle.
 
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 Markova 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.