(March 21, 2025) THIS WEEK: The Washington State Tennis team (10-5) begins West Coast Conference play when it travels to Spokane to face Gonzaga, Saturday, March 22 at 1 p.m. at the Stevens Center on the Gonzaga campus. The match marks the first WCC match for WSU, which is playing as WCC members for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
 
FOLLOW LIVE: For the Gonzaga match, live streaming is available HERE.
 
SCOUTING GONZAGA: Gonzaga enters Saturday's match with a 7-6 record, having dropped five of its last seven matches after starting the season 5-1. WSU leads the all-time series, 25-1, including the last five.
 
COUGARS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: In the latest ITA rankings, released March 18, WSU sits at No. 57 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. 41.
 
COUGAR NOTES:

• The doubles team of Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy were named the WCC Doubles Team of the Week, Feb. 25, following a weekend sweep of nationally-ranked teams from Baylor (#7) and TCU (#24). It marked the second time this season the Cougar duo earned the conference honor.
• The doubles team of Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy are 15-7 on the season and are riding a seven-match winning streak
• Redshirt-junior Maxine Murphy has a team-best 12-3 dual record in singles, all coming at No. 2 singles
• The Cougars are 25-1 all-time against Gonzaga.

 
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 Portland State, 7-0, in the first WSU home match played outside this season, March 7.
 
NEXT UP: Following Saturday's match at Gonzaga, the Cougars return home to face WCC foe Saint Mary's, March 27 at Noon.
 
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.