{"id":510158,"date":"2026-03-02T21:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/510158\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T21:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:00:08","slug":"cougars-host-no-10-pepperdine-tuesday-at-hollingbery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/510158\/","title":{"rendered":"Cougars Host No. 10 Pepperdine Tuesday at Hollingbery"},"content":{"rendered":"

PULLMAN, Wash. (March 2, 2026) \u2013 Coming off a victory Saturday over No. 36 UC Santa Barbara, Washington State Women’s Tennis returns home to face No. 10 Pepperdine, Tuesday, March 3 at 1 p.m. in Hollingbery Fieldhouse. The contest marks the third-straight for WSU against a nationally-ranked opponent.
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\nSCOUTING PEPPERDINE: The Huskies enter Friday’s match with a 7-0 record and No. 12 national ranking to begin the 2026 seasons. UW has wins over #33 Utah and #30 San Diego in its last two matches. The Huskies have four players currently nationally ranked in Reece Carter (#65), Erika Matsuda (72) Anna-Marie Weissheim (90) and Jermine Sherif (124). Their top doubles team of Matsuda and Carina Syrtveit is ranked No. 80 nationally. Washington leads the all-time series, 54-13.
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\nALVAREZ SANDE OFF TO FAST START: Senior Eva Alvarez Sande<\/a> is off to a 10-1 start in dual matches this season and is 15-6 overall. Her only setback came against No. 72 Erika Matsuda from Washington in two tiebreakers.
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\nCOUGARS UPSET NO. 36 UC SANTA BARBARA: In its last outing, Washington State posted a 4-3 upset over the Gauchos in Seattle. The win was the highest against a ranked opponent since defeating No. 35 Washington near the end of the 2022 season. The Cougars captured the opening doubles point then won at both 1 and 2 singles. UCSB captured singles wins at 3,5, and 6 to push the deciding match to No. 4 singles. WSU’s Yura Nakagawa<\/a> won the first 7-5 before Raphaella Leroux responded with a 6-1 win in the second, forcing a third to decide the match. Leading 4-3, Nakagawa held serve then broke Leroux for the fourth time in the set to win 6-3, clinching the victory for the Cougars.
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\nCOUGARS PICKED THIRD IN WCC PRESEASON POLL: WSU was picked third in the 2026 West Coast Conference Women’s Tennis preseason poll, voted on by the conferences’ 10 head coaches. Defending champion Pepperdine garnered the top spot in the preseason poll, receiving eight of the 10 first-place votes, to finish ahead of San Diego, which garnered the other two first-place votes. Washington State was third, followed by Loyola Marymount and Gonzaga to round out the top five. Cougar seniors Eva Alvarez Sande<\/a> and Maxine Murphy<\/a>\u00a0were both named to the 2026 WCC Preseason Team, accounting for two of the six members.\u00a0
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\nNEXT UP: Following the Pepperdine match, the Cougars are next in action Friday, March 13 when they travel to Eugene to face Oregon at 11 a.m.
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\nCOUGARS TO PLAY IN WEST COAST CONFERENCE: For the 2025-26 seasons, the Cougars will be an affiliate member of the West Coast Conference. When conference realignment impacted the Pac-12 Conference following the 2023-24 season, Cougar Tennis was one of 10 WSU athletic programs to become WCC affiliate members. This season marks the second of two seasons in the WCC before the Pac-12 resumes full-membership status beginning with the 2026-27 season.
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\nCOUGARS SIGN JOLYNN GARRETT: In early January, Washington State University Tennis announced a new team member, signing 10-year-old JoLynn Garrett<\/a> through Team IMPACT. JoLynn, who is navigating life with Williams syndrome, officially signed with the team. She will participate in many activities with Washington State Tennis, including games, practices, and other team events, over the next two years.
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\nROSTER BREAKDOWN: For the 2025-26 season, the Cougar roster consists of seniors Maxine Murphy<\/a> and Eva Alvarez Sande<\/a>, juniors Yura Nakagawa<\/a> and Zali Morris<\/a>, sophomores Chisato Kanemaki<\/a>, Martina Puvill<\/a> and Haylee Conway<\/a>, and freshman Ava-Monet Sycamore<\/a>.
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\nHEAD COACH JOSH GRAETZ: Josh Graetz<\/a> became the program’s ninth head coach in the summer of 2025 after spending the previous two seasons as the Cougars’ assistant coach. Graetz played a key role in WSU’s run to the 2025 National Invitational Tournament title. Prior to WSU, Graetz served as the head coach for both men’s and women’s programs at Metropolitan State University in Denver, his alma mater.
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\nFOLLOW LIVE: For all Cougar home tennis matches at Hollingbery Fieldhouse, live video streams of each match can be found HERE<\/a> while live scoring is available HERE<\/a>.
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\nFOLLOW THE COUGARS: Keep up with Washington State tennis by following @WSUCougarTennis on Twitter, @wsucougartennis on Instagram, and Washington State Cougar Tennis on Facebook.
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