THIS WEEK: The Washington State tennis team looks to hold on to its perfect season as the No. 57-ranked Cougars travel to Houston for a challenging three-match weekend. Washington State opens the trip Thursday, Feb. 5 against Prairie View A&M (1-2) at 9 a.m. PST. On Friday, the Cougars will face their first ranked opponent of the year, slated to face No. 51 Houston (2-3) at 10 a.m. PST. Houston is 1-2 against ITA-ranked teams this season, defeating No. 70 North Texas, while falling to No. 41 TCU and No. 61 BYU. The Cougars wrap up the trip against No. 28 Auburn (4-2) Saturday, Feb. 7, at 9 a.m. PST. The Tigers are also 1-2 against ITA-ranked teams, capturing a victory against No. 62 Wake Forest, while falling to No. 10 Georgia and No. 29 Texas Tech.
LAST WEEK: The Cougars closed out a six-match homestand undefeated after sweeping Friday’s tripleheader posting 6-1 victories against Montana, Portland State and Eastern Washington. Doubles play was strong all day, as the Cougars won all three doubles points. The No.1 duo of Elizaveta Luzina and Lize Leenknecht won all three matches, moving the pair to 6-0 on the season. In singles play, the Cougars dominated the Big Sky Conference schools, dropping only three matches throughout the day. Juniors Lize Leenknecht and Maria Biryukova both forcefully won their two matches, while sophomore Victoria Matejevic and newcomers Donika Bashota and Nastia Vasyukhina continued their hot streak, posting three victories apiece. Four Cougars remain undefeated on the year.
LUZINA REACHES 100: With an 6-0, 6-3 victory over Eastern Washington’s Erin Blessing during Friday’s tripleheader, senior Elizaveta Luzina, became the third Cougar in WSU history to hit 100 career singles wins. Luzina joins Elisabeth Fournier (108) and Luda Vasilieva (107) as the only Cougars with 100 wins.
COUGARS RANKED IN ITA POLL: After the first three weeks of play, undefeated Washington State remains ranked at 57th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll. WSU reached a high of No. 45 last season.
FREE TENNIS CLINIC: The Washington State tennis team will host its 10th annual free clinic Thursday, Feb. 12, in honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. The clinic will be held at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse from 5-6 p.m. Racquets and balls will be provided for participants.
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.
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. The 6-0 start to the season moves Hart to 147 accumulated wins, the most in school history, during her tenure.
LAST SEASON IN REVIEW: Washington State finished off dual match play with an 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.
--wsucougars.com--
