Senior Day Highlights Final Home Weekend

Saturday, April 11

Pullman, Wash.

11 a.m.

Washington State University

Seattle

Eva Alvarez Sande Maxine Murphy Senior Day

April 10, 2026 | Tennis

By: Washington State Athletic Communications

PULLMAN, Wash. (April 10, 2026) – Washington State Women's Tennis, No. 67 nationally in the most recent ITA rankings, host closes out its 2026 home schedule this weekend by hosting Seattle U, Saturday, April 11, and Portland, Sunday, April 12. Both matches will begin at 11 a.m. and be played at Hollingbery Fieldhouse. Gonzaga Saturday, April 4, in the Cougars' lone match this weekend. The Gonzaga match is set for 1 p.m. at the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts. The Cougars enter Saturday on a five-match winning streak and hold a 12-7 record, 4-1 in West Coast Conference play.

SENIOR DAY VS. PORTLAND: Prior to Sunday's match against Portland, Cougar Tennis will recognize the accomplishments of seniors Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy, who will be playing their final home match. The pre-match ceremony is set to begin at 10:45 a.m. in Hollingbery Fieldhouse.

SCOUTING SEATTLE U: The Redhawks enter the match with a 1-13 overall record, 0-4 in WCC play. Seattle U's lone win came at Lewis-Clark State. The Cougars hold a 15-1 advantage in the all-time series.

SCOUTING PORTLAND: The Pilots enter the weekend with an 8-8 overall record, 3-3 in WCC play. Portland captured both matches last weekend, getting past Pacific and Saint Mary's. The Cougars hold a 16-1 advantage in the all-time series.

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. 67, up four spots from the previous week. In the singles rankings, both Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy made their season debut in the March 17 rankings. After entering the rankings at No. 84, Alvarez Sande came in at No. 88 this week, while Murphy entered at No. 99 and came in this week at No. 106. In the March 17 ranking, it marked the first time since Feb. 20, 2019, that the Cougars had two singles players ranked in the same poll, when Michaela Bayerlova was No. 35 and Melissa Ates was No. 106.

NAKAGAWA NAMED WCC SINGLES PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Following her three-set, come-from-behind win over Gonzaga, redshirt-junior Yura Nakagawa has been named the West Coast Conference's Women's Singles Tennis Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Last week against Gonzaga, with the Cougars having only five players due to injury, Nakagawa recorded her biggest win of the season, rallying from a set down to defeat Elizabeth Tindera. Nakagawa, who was down 4-6, 0-4, strung together six-straight games to force a third set. There, she rode an early break of serve to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win, providing the margin of victory in WSU's 4-3 defeat of the Bulldogs. This marks the first WCC Singles Player of the Week honor for Nakagawa.

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 Portland match, the Cougars head to California for the final regular season matches prior to the West Coast Conference Championship. The face Santa Clara Thursday and San Diego Saturday.

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.