Cougars Head to Desert to Open Pac-12 Play
THIS WEEK (March 3, 2022): The Washington State Women's Tennis team (4-6) kicks off its Pac-12 Conference schedule this weekend against Arizona and Arizona State. This weekend begins Friday in Tucson, Arizona where the Cougars will go head-to-head against No. 44 Arizona at 10 a.m. PT in Tucson. Sunday, the Cougs will face No. 17 Arizona State in Tempe. The Arizona weekend marks an end to WSU's eight-match stretch away from Pullman. The Cougs will return home next weekend for matches against Colorado and Utah.
SCOUTING ARIZONA: The Wildcats enter this weekend's match with an 8-2 record and a No. 44 national ranking in the ITA poll. Arizona enters the week having won five of its last six matches, the lone defeat coming at the hands of No. 34 Texas Tech. Last weekend, Arizona posted a 4-3 win over No. 26 Alabama and a 4-0 sweep of Troy at the Blue-Gray Classic. The Cougs hold a three-match winning streak against Arizona, including a 4-2 victory last season in Pullman. Live video at Arizona is available HERE.
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE: The Sun Devils enter the weekend with a 7-2 record, and a No. 17 national ranking in the ITA poll. Last weekend, Arizona State posted victories over Kansas and San Diego, and have won its last three matches overall. The Sun Devils hold the all-time series lead over WSU 25-1, including a 6-1 victory in Pullman last season. Live scoring at Arizona State is available HERE.
LAST TIME OUT: Last time out WSU travelled to New York City for matches against No. 45 Iowa State and No. 46 Columbia. The 65th-ranked Cougs made a late comeback and fell short to Columbia, 4-2.
BAYERLOVA TOP THREE COLLEGIANS IN WORLD RANKING: Washington State fifth-year senior Michaela Bayerlova entered this week with a WTA ranking of 518. That places her third among current collegians in the world rankings. Virginia sophomore Emma Navarro leads all NCAA women tennis players with a ranking of 202. Texas sophomore Peyton Stearns is next at No. 393 followed by Bayerlova.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2021-22 season the Cougars will have four new players to accompany the four returners. The returning roster consists of fifth-year senior Michaela Bayerlova, seniors Yang Lee and Savanna Ly-Nguyen, sophomore Fifa Kumhom and freshmen Hania Abouelsaad, Stefaniia Mikhailova, Maxine Murphy and Elyse Tse.
HEAD COACH RAQUEL ATAWO: Raquel Atawo begins her first season as head coach of the Cougars after being named to the position July 2, 2021. Atawo arrived in Pullman having spent last season as the assistant coach at Auburn and prior to that, spent 15 years on the WTA Tour, where she reached at No. 10 world ranking in doubles.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS: Keep up with Washington State tennis by following @WSUCougarTennis on Twitter, @wsucougartennis on Instagram, and Washington State Cougar Tennis on Facebook.