CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's tennis team will play Alabama on Saturday (Feb. 10) and Washington on Sunday (Feb. 11) -- Both matches will be hosted by Washington. The Eagles are 2-0 overall after facing Seattle U and Pacific Lutheran two weeks ago.
"We've made some nice progress on the courts these past few weeks since our opening matches of the season," said head coach Dustin Hinson. "We are looking forward to competing again and we're excited about the level of competition we will face in Washington and Alabama. These are the kind of matches that really help us prepare for the tough conference competition we will face in the coming months."
Eastern Washington had a lot of success this fall season and were ranked sixth in the preseason polls. They dominated Pacific Lutheran 7-0 on the road with multiple shutouts in doubles and singles and went on to beat Seattle U 5-2. Senior Janaya Smith won in the No. 1 spot in doubles in both matches with freshman partner Rylee Braeden. Zoey Nelson and Faye Worrall followed with a 6-3 victory over SU and an 8-3 win over Pacific Lutheran.
Alabama's roster features eight athletes and they are 9-0 in the regular season. They recently faced Alabama A&M to win 7-0 and Tennessee at Chattanooga with a 6-1 win last weekend. The Crimson Tide will play Washington on Friday (Feb. 9) and Portland (Feb. 10) before facing the Eagles for a late match at 5 p.m.
Washington sits at a 4-2 mark going into the weekend. In their last competition, the Huskies had a winning weekend against Fresno State (5-2) and Denver (5-2). The team is ranked in the top 25 in the nation and features their top singles player who is ranked sixth nationally. Washington will also face Portland before Eastern on Sunday at 6 p.m.
Following this weekend, the Eagles will host their first home-opener of the regular season against Lewis-Clark State College (Feb. 16) before getting on the road to Gonzaga (Feb. 18). For more information on Eastern Washington's women's tennis team, follow @EWUAthletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
