WSU tennis (5-4, 0-0 Pac-12) is growing nearer to Pac-12 play, but before they take on their closest rivals, they have two tune-up matches at home.

The Cougs are coming off two matches against Big Ten opponents in which they split against Nebraska and Minnesota. WSU is ranked No. 69 nationally and No. 1 Maxine Murphy was ranked No. 111 in the inaugural ITA rankings. 

The split series brought the season record for Wazzu to 5-4, a record in the lower third of out-of-Conference play in the Pac-12. However, the upcoming matches favor the Cougs to win and improve their record to 7-4 before Conference play begins. 

First up is Eastern Washington (2-2, 0-0 Big Sky), a team who previously lost to Colorado out of the Pac-12 Conference in a clean 4-0 sweep. In the history between these two programs, WSU is 18-0, dating back to 2006. 

In the 18 matches, the Cougs have a point advantage of 112-7, a drastic differential. Last season, the Cougs took down the Eagles 4-2 in Pullman, a match where then No. 2 Murphy won her singles match 6-4, 6-3. Elyse Tse also won her singles match and Fifa Kumhom lost. However, she played extraordinarily tough and has improved immensely since then.

The second match of the weekend is against Saint Mary’s (2-3, 0-0 WCC). WSU has only played the Gaels once in program history, a 5-1 win in 2016 in Fresno, California. 

So far this season, the Gaels have played against two other Pac-12 teams, losing 7-0 to both California and Stanford. 

WSU is favored to win both matches and gather momentum heading into Conference play, either way. 

The first match will take place at noon Friday against Eastern Washington and the match against Saint Mary’s is set for 11 a.m. Saturday. Both matches will be played on the Simmelink Tennis Courts in Pullman and streamed on the WSU live stream.