Top tier foes trump tennis

WSU women’s tennis faced tough competition last weekend as they fell to No. 2 UCLA and No. 12 USC.

“We have talked about having a short memory and keeping the focus on one match at a time and more specifically one point at a time,” Lisa Hart said. “Controlling the things we have control over and individually taking care of their games and mental mindset. This is a special team.  They always battle hard and believe they can win. We are really looking forward to the opportunities in front of us.”

The Cougars are now 15-7 on the season and 1-4 in the Pac-12. WSU also fell in the national rankings from No. 50 to No. 53.

On Friday, the Cougars faced a stacked UCLA squad currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. WSU fell to the Bruins 4-0. UCLA is now 16-1 and 4-0 in the Pac-12.

The Bruins took the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and No. 3. WSU junior Elizaveta Luzina and sophomore Lize Leenknecht were tied 7-7 with the nation’s top ranked doubles team in UCLA’s Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady before the doubles point was secured for the Bruins.

In singles play, the Bruins extended the lead to 2-0 as UCLA junior Chanelle Van Nguyen, ranked No. 11 nationally, defeated Leenknecht 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2. UCLA junior Kaitlin Ray then defeated WSU junior Charlotte Koning 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 before No. 16 Brady clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Cougar sophomore Maria Biryukova at No. 3.

“We will stay the course and keep working on our strengths in practice,” Hart said. “I think we are playing our best tennis as a team right now and peaking at the right time of our season.”

On Saturday, the Cougars faced-off against another tough squad in No. 12 USC. The Trojans came out on top 4-1 and are now 14-4 and 5-0 in the Pac-12.

In doubles play, USC’s Brynn Boren and Giuliana Olmos defeated Luzina and Leenknecht 8-5 at No.1. USC’s Gabriella DeSimone and Zoe Scandalis secured the doubles point with a victory over Biryukova and senior Olga Musilovich 8-6.

In singles play, Koning was able to tie the match at 1-1 with a 6-0 win over USC sophomore Paige Keating at No. 6. However, USC sealed the victory with wins at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4. No. 106 Luzina was beating No. 26 Scandalis, 6-3, 2-2, at No. 1 before the match was stopped.

“UCLA and USC are both extremely tough teams that are in the National Championship hunt year in and year out,” Hart said. “I’m proud of the way our players competed and believed they could win. We will be better for having played these two matches.”

The Cougars have a string of home games coming up with their first match Thursday against No. 41 Pepperdine. This Friday, the Huskies will be in Pullman for the yearly rivalry game, that match will kick-off at 11 a.m.

 “Always fired up and want to beat the Huskies; this team has done a great job focusing on one match at a time all season,” Hart said. “Right now our sole focus is on Pepperdine, once the last point is played on Thursday they will quickly turn their attention towards and get fired up for the Huskies.”