(March 26, 2025) THIS WEEK: The No. 52-ranked Washington State Tennis team (11-5) returns to Pullman for a pair of West Coast Conference matches against Saint Mary' and Pacific this week. The Cougars first home match in WCC play comes Thursday, March 27 at 11 a.m. against Saint Mary's, scheduled for the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts. The Cougars will then host Pacific Sunday at 11 a.m., also scheduled for the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts.
 
FOLLOW LIVE: With both matches being scheduled for outside, only live scoring will be available, no live streaming. Live stats will be available HERE.
 
SCOUTING SAINT MARY'S: The Gaels enter Thursday's match with a 5-6 overall record, having won its last three matches, including a 4-1 win over Pacific last time out. WSU leads the all-time series, 3-0, including a 5-2 home win in 2023, the last meeting in the series.
 
SCOUTING PACIFIC: The Tigers enter the weekend with a 4-9 overall record, 0-1 in in WCC play after falling to Saint Mary's, 4-1, last week. Pacific did snap a two-match skid Monday with a 6-1 victory over Eastern Washington. WSU leads the all-time series, 6-0, including a 4-3 home win in 2010, the last meeting in the series.
 
COUGARS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: In the latest ITA rankings, released March 18, WSU sits at No. 52 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.
• Redshirt-junior Maxine Murphy has a team-best 13-3 dual record in singles, all coming at No. 2 singles
• The Cougars are 3-0 all-time against Saint Mary's and 6-0 all-time against Pacific.

 
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 Gonzaga in Spokane, 4-0, in the Cougars' first conference match as a member of the West Coast Conference.
 
NEXT UP: Following Sunday's match against Pacific, the Cougars travel to Southern California to face Loyola Marymount, Saturday, April 5.
 
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.