Maxine Murphy Clinches Cougars 4-3 Win over Minnesota

LINCOLN, Neb. – Sophomore Maxine Murphy came from a set down to secure the victory at No. 1 singles, propelling Washington State to a 4-3 win over Minnesota Saturday morning at the Dillon Tennis Center. With the win, the Cougars improve to 5-4 on the season while Minnesota falls to 4-3.
 
With the match tied at 3-3, Murphy was deep into her third set against Anet Koskel. Koskel has won the opening set, 6-4, before Murphy rode an early break of serve to win the second, 6-4. In the third, Murphy again captured an early break and made it stick, but not without drama. Murphy converted on her seventh match point to secure the 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win for the final margin of victory.
 
Doubles play opened the day with the Cougars needing only one win in the top two spots to secure the opening point. Due to injuries, Minnesota played the match with only four healthy players, meaning it forfeited the No. 3 doubles. The Cougars took advantage as WSU’s Eva Alvarez Sande and Elyse Tse posted a 6-2 win over Koskel and Aiva Schmitz at No. 2 to secure the point. The match on Court 1 was stopped with WSU’s Murphy and Yura Nakagawa leading 4-3 over Zoey Weil and Zeyneb Sarioglan.
 
In singles play, WSU received two forfeits at No.’s 5 and 6 to push the lead to 3-0. Minnesota made it close as it won the next three matches to even the team score at 3-3. At No. 3, Schmitz won a close first set before pulling away from Nakagawa to win 7-5,…