Cougars women’s tennis dominant in final regular season match

PULLMAN – Washington State’s women’s tennis (16-7) finished their regular season with a strong 5-0 win over Santa Clara, led by seniors Hania Abouelsaad and Elyse Tse, according to a statement by Washington State University Athletics.  

With the win, WSU ended its regular season 6-2 in West Coast Conference play. The Cougars closed out their home schedule with a perfect 11-0 record, the best home record in program history, eclipsing the 8-0 mark from 2020 when the season was cut short due to the COVID pandemic. Santa Clara falls to 8-12, 2-4. 

The match began outside, and midway through, doubles play was halted due to rain. After a 13-minute delay, play resumed as the rain held off long enough to complete doubles. Another rain shower forced the singles matches to move inside to Hollingbery Fieldhouse. 

In doubles play, Santa Clara struck first as the No. 2 doubles team of Danielle Dimitrova and Anna Rahman posted a 6-3 win over Tse and Chisato Kanemaki. The Cougars responded as the No. 3 duo of Abouelsaad and Martina Markov defeated Velizara Fileva and Kacey Feng, 6-4, while WSU's Eva Alvarez Sande and Maxine Murphy, ranked No. 44 nationally, clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Jillian Roa and Tian Yu Dong at No. 1. 

In singles action, Abouelsaad set the tone as she raced through a 6-1, 6-0 win over Roa at No. 4 singles, pushing the Cougar lead to 2-0. Alvarez Sande quickly followed suit, completing a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 2 over Fileva.  

Murphy clinched the team win as she had little trouble with Dimitrova at No. 1, winning 6-2, 6-2, giving WSU a 4-0 lead with three matches remaining. Tse then put a bow on her home season with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Dong at No. 3. 

With the team outcome decided, two matches were abandoned as Markov led Rahman, 6-0, 1-4 at No. 5 and Martina Puvill was leading Juliette Krumholz at No. 6. 

The Cougars begin play at the 2025 West Coast Conference Championships on Thursday, April 24, in San Diego. 

DOUBLES 

No. 1 #44 Eva Alvarez Sande/Maxine Murphy (WSU) def. Jillian Roa/Tian Yu Dong (SCU) 6-4 

No. 2 Daniella Dimitrova/Anna Rahman (SCU) def. Elyse Tse/Chisato Kanemaki (WSU) 6-3 

No. 3 Hania Abouelsaad/Martina Markov (WSU) def. Velizara Fileva/Kacey Feng (SCU) 6-4 

Order of Finish: 2,3,1 

SINGLES 

No. 1 Maxine Murphy (WSU) def. Daniella Dimitrova (SCU) 6-2, 6-2 

No. 2 Eva Alvarez Sande (WSU) def. Velizara Fileva (SCU) 6-0, 6-3 

No. 3 Elyse Tse (WSU) def. Tian Yu Dong (SCU) 6-2, 6-4 

No. 4 Hania Abouelsaad (WSU) def. Jillian Roa (SCU) 6-1, 6-0 

No. 5 Martina Markov (WSU) vs. Anna Rahman (SCU) 6-1, 1-4 DNF 

No. 6 Martina Puvill (WSU) vs. Juliette Krumholz (SCU) 6-4, 1-1 DNF 

Order of Finish: 4,2,1,3