The 2023 regular season for WSU tennis is coming to an end, as just one match remains between the Cougs and the end of their 2023 season.

WSU (7-13, 0-9 Pac-12) will head to Seattle to take on Washington (15-7, 5-4) in this year’s rendition of the Apple Cup. 

While the Cougs have yet to win a match in Pac-12 play, UW is riding a four-game losing streak in Conference play with losses to Utah, Colorado, Stanford and California. All four of those losses came on the road and this upcoming match will be the first time the Huskies are back in Seattle since April 2. 

Off the losing streak, UW has fallen to fifth in the Conference, but they have generally played above that ranking in 2023.

In the all-time matchup, the Huskies have won 25 of 32 matches, but the Cougs are riding a two-game winning streak, both matches having occurred within five days of each other in 2022 with last year’s regular-season finale in Pullman and the first round of the Pac-12 Tennis Championships in Ojai, California.

Prior to those two matches, UW had won seven in a row and eight of the last nine. 

If the Cougs pull off the upset, it would be the first time in the matchup’s history that the Cougs won in Seattle. Currently sitting at 0-16, WSU has only managed to get three points on four separate occasions and has not done so since 2015. 

Eva Alvarez Sande, who managed her team-leading 19th singles win against California, will be the focal point for the Cougs. She and Elyse Tse are a formidable duo and in singles action, she has been the only one to come out victorious on several occasions. 

In 2022, the Cougs struggled for much of the season, but the two wins within a week of each other against the Huskies was a shining light, something they look to replicate in what has been a tough 2023 season. 

The match is set for noon Saturday at the Bill Quillian Tennis Stadium in Seattle. It will be streamed on the Pac-12 Washington broadcast.