Home is where the Hart is

The WSU women’s tennis team is set to test its skill against ranked opponents this weekend. The 8-1 Cougars are fresh off a three-game sweep from last weekend when they defeated BYU, UC Santa Barbara and Seattle .

“We’re going to try and do what we’ve been doing all season, try to focus on one match at a time,” Head Coach Lisa Hart said.  “I’m really proud of our players, they’ve been preparing very well for our matches.”

No. 66 Fresno State (1-5) will be in Pullman all weekend with a match against Idaho on Thursday and a match against the Cougars on Friday at the Simmelink Tennis Courts.

“It’s going to be an exciting match, there will be a lot of good tennis played, and I think it’s going to be great,” Hart said. “We’re playing good tennis, and we have a strong team, it will be good.”

Fresno State sophomore Sophie Watts moved up to No. 41 in the ITA rankings for singles and could turn out to be a challenge for Cougar junior Elizaveta Luzina and sophomore Lize Leenknecht.

“During the matches they battle, they come together and battle really well so that’s what our focus is, we’re continuing to do that,” Hart said.

On Saturday, the tennis team will travel to Spokane where they will face No. 65 University of San Diego (2-2) at the Stevens Tennis Center.

San Diego senior captain Anna Depenau won both her doubles and singles match last weekend against Hawai’i and hopes to move the series lead to 8-4 against WSU.

To finish out the weekend, No. 71 Princeton (4-3) will be in Pullman where they will play Fresno State on Saturday and WSU on Sunday.

The last time Princeton played the Cougars was in 2000 when they defeated WSU 5-3 at San Diego State. A win in Pullman would be Princeton’s third win against a Pac-12 opponent.

“We’re really in good shape and very healthy and that’s been a difference in a lot of matches,” Hart said. “If we can keep healthy like we are, that will help us down the stretch.”

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, heart shaped cookies will be handed out to spectators as a treat for the holiday.