Women's Tennis Host Washington State and Minnesota

FIRST SERVE
Utah Women's Tennis will host both Washington State on Friday, Feb. 11, and Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 13. The Utes will play against Washington State at 1:30 pm MT on Friday, and 9 am MT against Minnesota on Sunday.
 

 
MATCH DAY PROMOTION
The first 50 people in attendance to the Washington State match on Friday, will receive free pizza.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Utah has gone yet another weekend undefeated. The Utes last played Idaho State on Feb. 4. In doubles, all three Utah teams were able to clinch their win and give the team yet another doubles point this season. Linda Huang and Madison Tattini were able to defeat the Bengal team, Hana Cho/ Leah Kuruvilla, after losing the first three games, 6-4. 
 
Anastasia Goncharova and Lindsay Hung maintain their undefeated titles. Goncharova fought it out against ISU player, Sol O'lideadha, winning her first set 6-1 and her second 6-0. Hung defeated her opponent, Lola O'lideadha, 6-4 6-0. Huang went head to head with Idaho State player, Hana Cho, to win, 6-1, 6-3. Emily Dush also received a single point for the team against Megan Lang-Gould, 6-0, 6-2. Utah finished the match 5-2. 
 
LAST TIME VS WASHINGTON STATE AND MINNESOTA
Utah last played Washington State on March 11, 2021, in a conference game. Utah lost the match 4-1. Utah last played Minnesota on Jan. 19, 2020, where Utah won 4-3. 
 
SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE
Washington State enters the weekend undefeated as they are 4-0 on the season. On Jan. 28, the Cougars defeated Montana, 5-2. This is a familiar opponent as Utah defeated the Grizzlies earlier this season, 7-0. After a week of layoff, Washington State returns to the courts because of bad weather in Texas canceling its matches. In dual matches, Washington State is 5-1 on the season. In singles, the Cougars are 9-3. They have played Michaela Bayerlova and Savanna Ly-Nguyen at the No. 1 position. Last season, Washington went 14-16, with 11 wins at home, two on the road and one on a neutral court. Savanna Ly-Nguyen led the team in wins, 18-6.
 
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Minnesota is also coming into the weekend undefeated at 9-0. The 9-0 start is Minnesota's best start in 25 years. The Gophers last did this achievement in 1997. Minnesota last played on Feb. 4 when they hosted North Dakota and Northern Iowa. The Gophers came away with two 7-0 sweeps. Minnesota has swept its last five opponents. Maria Rizzolo leads the team this spring with eight wins on the season. This season, she has wins in No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No.5, and No. 6 singles. The Gophers have only dropped six singles matches on the season. They have played ten different doubles teams and are 20-3 in doubles this season.
 
Top Ten Recruiting Class 
The Utah women's tennis team earned a top ten recruiting class for the first time in school history. The Utes earned the ninth-ranked class by the Tennis Recruiting Network. Utah has signed three for next season. Kaila Barksdale, Yasmin Ezzat, and Marcela Lopez have all signed to join the Utes for the 2022-23 season. To find out more about the class, click here. 
 
TOP AUSTRALIAN PLAYERS
Universal Tennis took a look at the top 10 ranked college players from Australia. The results are based on the UTR Ranking. Utah's Linda Huang came in fourth on the list. Her ranking is 10.23 from the UTR Rating.
 
UP NEXT 
Utah Women's tennis will host for the third week in a row against Denver on Saturday, Feb 19 at 11 am MT. The match against the Pioneers will be held at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. 
 
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2022 season on social media (Twitter: @UteWomensTennis | Instagram: @UtahWomensTennis | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahwomenstennis).