THIS WEEK: Washington State returns to the court to open its 2015 dual season Thursday, Jan. 22, hosting Seattle (0-1) and Idaho (0-0) in a doubleheader. The Seattle match begins at 9 a.m., with Idaho slated to follow at 4 p.m. The Cougars continue their six-match, season-opening homestand squaring off against Boise State, Saturday, Jan. 24. Play is scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m. All three matches will be held at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse.
LAST TIME OUT: The Cougars opened the 2015 season strong posting a convincing 29-6 overall record at the Maui Invitational. At the three-day tournament, three Cougars were perfect. Juniors Maria Biryukova and Lize Leenknecht, both posted a perfect 4-0 in singles, each winning their respective singles flights, while freshman Holly Monahan went 3-0. Freshman Donika Bashota, who went 3-1 in singles play, also won her singles flight.
ROBIN CAMBIER NAMED ASSISTANT COACH: Robin Cambier was named assistant tennis coach at WSU Jan. 4. Cambier arrives at WSU after spending the past three months as assistant coach & assistant director of college placement at the Weil Tennis Academy & College Preparatory School in Ojai, Calif. A native of Brussels, Belgium, he is a graduate of the University of Oregon, where he was one of the most successful players in program history while earning a degree in business administration. Cambier is the Oregon record holder for career singles wins (90), career doubles wins (93), season doubles wins (29), career singles and doubles wins (183), career doubles wins by a team (57), consecutive singles wins (15) and consecutive doubles wins (10). He finished his career with a No. 75 ITA singles ranking and third in the Northwest Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. In doubles action, Cambier and teammate Kevin Farin came in at No. 55. Additionally, Cambier was also recognized for his work on and off the court, earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors and Pac-12 All-Academic Team honorable mention.
COUGARS RANKED IN ITA POLL: The Cougars open the 2015 season with a No. 53 ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll. WSU reached a high of No. 45 last season.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2014-15 season the Cougars will have four new faces to go with four returners. The returning roster includes senior Elizaveta Luzina and juniors Lize Leenknecht and Maria Biryukova and sophomore Victoria Matejevic. New to the squad this season are freshmen Donika Bashota, Grace Lymer-Sullivan, Holly Monahan and Nastia Vasyukhina.
COACH HART: Lisa Hart is in her 12th season as the head coach of Washington State. Hart has accumulated 141 wins, the most in school history, during her tenure.
LAST SEASON IN REVIEW: Washington State finished off dual match play with a 18-10 overall record and 3-7 in conference play in 2014. The 18 wins were the second-most in school history as the Cougars finished seventh in a very competitive Pac-12 conference that had the top nine teams finishing with national rankings. WSU entered the national rankings at No. 59 in mid-February and remained ranked the remainder of the season, reaching a high of No. 45 the week of the Oregon match.
PARKING AT HOLLINGBERY: Fans coming to Cougar Tennis matches this season can park in the Yellow 1 parking lot located directly south of Beasley Coliseum. There will not be any charge for parking on weekends, and daily passes can be purchased for weekday contests. Another option for tennis fans to park would be the Library Garage. The garage costs $3 for the entire day to park on either a Saturday or Sunday.
