Good morning, Coug fans! I’m writing to you this week back in the midwest! It’s good to be in a city atmosphere, but I am missing the west coast (and my dog).

Our very own Washington State University Tennis team had some exciting news this week, they are welcoming new head coach Raquel Atawo to the team. I thought I’d give you all the scoop as well!

Atawo is the eighth head coach in the history of the program, and comes up to Pullman from the assistant coaching position at Auburn University. With her help, the Tigers went 14-9 during their season, and wrapped up ranking at No. 22. Atawo was also named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southern Region Assistant Coach of the Year, which is both an honor and a bit of a mouthful.

You might have also seen her playing doubles with Abigail Spears at either the Australian Open in 2014, where she reached the semifinals, or Wimbledon in both 2015 AND 2016, where she also reached the semifinals. She has also won 18 Women’s Tennis Association doubles titles, which I found out from her very impressive Wikipedia page.

Some more fun tidbits on her Wikipedia page? Her professional tennis career with two separate teams in the World TeamTennis Pro League. In 2008, she was a part of the Boston Lobsters, which is an incredible team name, and in 2019 she played for the Philadelphia Freedoms.

In addition, she had a successful college career at Cal, which we can overlook, because of how fun it’ll be to beat them now! At Cal, she accomplished quite a bit- notably she was a five-time All-American in singles and doubles, on top of earning the 2004 ITA Senior Player of the Year and Pac-10 Player of the Year. She was also ranked No. 1 nationally in singles during her college days, and won the Pac-10 singles championship. Fun fact: she is in the Cal Student Athlete Hall of Fame, which again- will make our impending victory over them all the more sweet.

Her peer reviews are raving, and as one of WSU Tennis’s self-proclaimed biggest fans, I could not be more excited about this hire- and I hope you guys are too! Go Cougs!

Links

Spokane Shock lineman JR Hensley had "the best experience of my life" alongside coach Nick Rolovich at Hawaii | SWX Right Now | khq.com
As a senior left offensive guard at run-and-shoot Hawaii, 6-foot-5, 300-pound JR Hensley often paved lanes wide enough for a midsized sedan.

A Grip on Sports: Professional team success hasn't been a Spokane hallmark, except in rare instances like that of Tyler Johnson | The Spokesman-Review
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Like most sports fans, we like to rank things. Who was the Mariners’ greatest draft pick (an easy one). The best player in this year’s NBA draft (another easy one). Where Tyler Johnson falls among Spokane’s greatest professional athletes of all time (ooh, that one is hard).

The Crawsover Pro-Am is coming back to Seattle this summer with plenty of star power. Here's who will be playing. | Basketball | tdn.com
The local basketball stars are returning home this summer to participate in Jamal Crawford’s summer Pro-Am, The Crawsover.