WSU has its first award winner of the young 2023 tennis season. Sophomore No. 1 Maxine Murphy took home the Pac-12 Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week Award.

It is the first time in her young career that she was given the honor and it comes off the back of her impressive performance in both singles and doubles action against Montana. 

First, in doubles, she teamed with Eva Alvarez Sande and took down their opposition 7-5. Then against Montana’s No. 1 Hailey Murphy, Maxine Murphy won 6-0, 6-1 in a match where she won the first 11 games.

Murphy is expected to carry a lot of weight this season for a young WSU team. Last year’s No. 3 was promoted to No. 1 for this season and was the highlight of the fall pre-season for the Cougs.

She was the Coug who made her the furthest in singles action at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northwest Championships, where she made it all the way to the top 16 players.

The award points to good things to come in head coach Raquel Atawo’s second season, and if the Cougs do well, Murphy will be at the center of that success.