Washington State University Athletics
Saturday, March 21
Pullman, Wash.
1 p.m.
Washington State University
vs
Eastern Washington
Photo by: Dean Hare/WSU Photo Services
Cougars Return Home to Face EWU, LMU
March 20, 2026 | Tennis
PULLMAN, Wash. (March 20, 2026) –Washington State Women's Tennis, No. 74 nationally in the most recent ITA rankings, returns home to face Eastern Washington, Saturday, March 21 at 1 p.m., and Loyola Marymount Sunday, March 22 at 11 a.m. Both matches are tentatively scheduled to be played at the WSU Outdoor Courts, weather permitting.
SCOUTING EWU: The Eagles enter the weekend with an 8-4 overall record, 2-0 in Big Sky Conference play. EWU will host Sacramento State Friday before heading to Pullman Saturday. Most recently, EWU swept the Montana schools earlier this month, winning both matches by identical 4-3 scores. Washington State leads the all-time series, 43-2.
SCOUTING LMU: The Lions begin the weekend with a 5-7 record, 0-1 in West Coast Conference play. After rolling off four-straight wins early in the season, LMU has dropped its last four, including a 5-2 decision to open WCC play at San Diego March 15. The Lions will face Gonzaga in Spokane Saturday before concluding the road trip Sunday in Pullman. The all-time series is tied 2-2.
COUGARS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: With the release of the most recent ITA rankings, WSU remained in the Top 75, checking in this week at No. 74. In the singles rankings, both Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy made their season debut. Alvarez Sande enters the rankings at No. 84 while Murphy sits at No. 99. It marks the first time since Feb. 20, 2019, that the Cougars have had two singles players ranked in the same poll, when Michaela Bayerlova was No. 35 and Melissa Ates was No. 106.
MURPHY NAMED WCC SINGLES PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Redshirt-senior Maxine Murphy has been named the West Coast Conference's Women's Singles Tennis Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Last week against No. 16 Pepperdine, Murphy posted the biggest singles win of her Cougar career, defeating the Waves' Anastasiia Grechkina, 6-3, 6-4, who entered the match ranked No. 10 nationally. Murphy's victory was the highest-ranked win for a Cougar player since Michaela Bayerlova defeated No. 9 Chloe Beck of Duke at the NCAA Championships, May 24, 2022.
COUGARS PICKED THIRD IN WCC PRESEASON POLL: WSU was picked third in the 2026 West Coast Conference Women's Tennis preseason poll, voted on by the conferences' 10 head coaches. Defending champion Pepperdine garnered the top spot in the preseason poll, receiving eight of the 10 first-place votes, to finish ahead of San Diego, which garnered the other two first-place votes. Washington State was third, followed by Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga to round out the top five. Cougar seniors Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy were both named to the 2026 WCC Preseason Team, accounting for two of the six members.
NEXT UP: Following the LMU match, the Cougars travel to Moraga, Calif. to face Saint Mary's March 28.
COUGARS TO PLAY IN WEST COAST CONFERENCE: For the 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. This season marks the second of two seasons in the WCC before the Pac-12 resumes full-membership status beginning with the 2026-27 season.
COUGARS SIGN JOLYNN GARRETT: In early January, Washington State University Tennis announced a new team member, signing 10-year-old JoLynn Garrett through Team IMPACT. JoLynn, who is navigating life with Williams syndrome, officially signed with the team. She will participate in many activities with Washington State Tennis, including games, practices, and other team events, over the next two years.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2025-26 season, the Cougar roster consists of seniors Maxine Murphy and Eva Alvarez Sande, juniors Yura Nakagawa and Zali Morris, sophomores Chisato Kanemaki, Martina Puvill and Haylee Conway, and freshman Ava-Monet Sycamore.
HEAD COACH JOSH GRAETZ: Josh Graetz became the program's ninth head coach in the summer of 2025 after spending the previous two seasons as the Cougars' assistant coach. Graetz played a key role in WSU's run to the 2025 National Invitational Tournament title. Prior to WSU, Graetz served as the head coach for both men's and women's programs at Metropolitan State University in Denver, his alma mater.
FOLLOW LIVE: For all Cougar home tennis matches at Hollingbery Fieldhouse, live video streams of each match can be found HERE while live scoring is available HERE.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS: Keep up with Washington State tennis by following @WSUCougarTennis on Twitter, @wsucougartennis on Instagram, and Washington State Cougar Tennis on Facebook.
SCOUTING EWU: The Eagles enter the weekend with an 8-4 overall record, 2-0 in Big Sky Conference play. EWU will host Sacramento State Friday before heading to Pullman Saturday. Most recently, EWU swept the Montana schools earlier this month, winning both matches by identical 4-3 scores. Washington State leads the all-time series, 43-2.
SCOUTING LMU: The Lions begin the weekend with a 5-7 record, 0-1 in West Coast Conference play. After rolling off four-straight wins early in the season, LMU has dropped its last four, including a 5-2 decision to open WCC play at San Diego March 15. The Lions will face Gonzaga in Spokane Saturday before concluding the road trip Sunday in Pullman. The all-time series is tied 2-2.
COUGARS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: With the release of the most recent ITA rankings, WSU remained in the Top 75, checking in this week at No. 74. In the singles rankings, both Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy made their season debut. Alvarez Sande enters the rankings at No. 84 while Murphy sits at No. 99. It marks the first time since Feb. 20, 2019, that the Cougars have had two singles players ranked in the same poll, when Michaela Bayerlova was No. 35 and Melissa Ates was No. 106.
MURPHY NAMED WCC SINGLES PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Redshirt-senior Maxine Murphy has been named the West Coast Conference's Women's Singles Tennis Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Last week against No. 16 Pepperdine, Murphy posted the biggest singles win of her Cougar career, defeating the Waves' Anastasiia Grechkina, 6-3, 6-4, who entered the match ranked No. 10 nationally. Murphy's victory was the highest-ranked win for a Cougar player since Michaela Bayerlova defeated No. 9 Chloe Beck of Duke at the NCAA Championships, May 24, 2022.
COUGARS PICKED THIRD IN WCC PRESEASON POLL: WSU was picked third in the 2026 West Coast Conference Women's Tennis preseason poll, voted on by the conferences' 10 head coaches. Defending champion Pepperdine garnered the top spot in the preseason poll, receiving eight of the 10 first-place votes, to finish ahead of San Diego, which garnered the other two first-place votes. Washington State was third, followed by Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga to round out the top five. Cougar seniors Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy were both named to the 2026 WCC Preseason Team, accounting for two of the six members.
NEXT UP: Following the LMU match, the Cougars travel to Moraga, Calif. to face Saint Mary's March 28.
COUGARS TO PLAY IN WEST COAST CONFERENCE: For the 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. This season marks the second of two seasons in the WCC before the Pac-12 resumes full-membership status beginning with the 2026-27 season.
COUGARS SIGN JOLYNN GARRETT: In early January, Washington State University Tennis announced a new team member, signing 10-year-old JoLynn Garrett through Team IMPACT. JoLynn, who is navigating life with Williams syndrome, officially signed with the team. She will participate in many activities with Washington State Tennis, including games, practices, and other team events, over the next two years.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2025-26 season, the Cougar roster consists of seniors Maxine Murphy and Eva Alvarez Sande, juniors Yura Nakagawa and Zali Morris, sophomores Chisato Kanemaki, Martina Puvill and Haylee Conway, and freshman Ava-Monet Sycamore.
HEAD COACH JOSH GRAETZ: Josh Graetz became the program's ninth head coach in the summer of 2025 after spending the previous two seasons as the Cougars' assistant coach. Graetz played a key role in WSU's run to the 2025 National Invitational Tournament title. Prior to WSU, Graetz served as the head coach for both men's and women's programs at Metropolitan State University in Denver, his alma mater.
FOLLOW LIVE: For all Cougar home tennis matches at Hollingbery Fieldhouse, live video streams of each match can be found HERE while live scoring is available HERE.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS: Keep up with Washington State tennis by following @WSUCougarTennis on Twitter, @wsucougartennis on Instagram, and Washington State Cougar Tennis on Facebook.
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