Cougars Host Denver Before Conference Play Resumes

THIS WEEK: Washington State brings a 16-8 record (2-5 Pac-12 play) into this week’s matches against No. 70 Denver, No. 6 California and No. 7 Stanford, with all three matches being played in Pullman. The Cougars begin play Wednesday at 9 a.m. against Denver at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse. Denver enters with a 9-7 record, having won its last four matches by identical 7-0 scores. The California match is scheduled to be held at the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts at 9 a.m. Saturday as the conference-leading Golden Bears bring a 14-4 record, 7-0 in Pac-12 play, into the match. Stanford completes the day Saturday at 2 p.m. as the Cardinal enter with a 14-1 mark, 6-1 in conference play, with six players ranked in the top 50 nationally.

LAST WEEK: The Cougars earned a split with their two matches last week, falling to No. 29 Pepperdine 4-1 then rebounding with a 4-0 victory over No. 40 Washington.

UP NEXT: Following this week’s matches, the Cougars will close out their regular season against Oregon, Saturday, April. 19 at 11 a.m. in Pullman.

COUGARS ADJUST UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Washington State has adjusted its upcoming home schedule and will now play two matches Saturday, April 12. The Cougars were scheduled to face California Friday, Apr. 11 and Stanford Sunday, Apr. 13. Both of those matches have been moved to Saturday, Apr. 12, with the Cougars hosting California at 9 a.m. and Stanford at 2 p.m. Additionally, the match against Denver, Wednesday, Apr. 9, will now begin at 9 a.m.

WSU REMAINS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Cougars are ranked No. 47 this week, the eighth-straight week in which they have been ranked after entering poll February 18 at No. 59. Junior Elizaveta Luzina made a huge jump in the singles poll after defeating the nation’s 25th-ranked player last week. Luzina moved from No. 106 to a career-best 72nd.

COUGARS AT 20-WIN MARK: While junior Elizaveta Luzina leads the team with 28 singles victories this season, three others have now reached the 20-win plateau. Sophomore Maria Biryukova is next with 24 victories while fellow sophomore Lize Leenknecht stands at 22 singles victories. Sophomore Dajana Ognjenovic also hit the benchmark and stands at 20 wins on the season.

COACH HART: Lisa Hart is in her 11th season as the head coach of Washington State. Hart has accumulated 139 wins over her Cougar tenure, and 183 in her career that includes three years as head coach at Virginia Tech. In 2012 the Cougars went 19-7 as Hart was awarded the Pac-12 Conference Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year award for the 2011-12 season.

LIVE STATS: Fans wishing to follow Cougar home contests on line can go to wsucougars.com to get live stats throughout each match.

PARKING AT HOLLINGBERY FIELDHOUSE: 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.