The No. 34 Washington women’s tennis team was down in the dumps on Saturday while at Pullman’s Simmelink Tennis Courts; No. 42 WSU handed UW a devastating 4-3 loss.

This is the second time the two teams have met this season; the first was in Seattle where the Huskies had an overwhelming 6-1 victory. Washington’s showing on the road hasn’t been quite as strong since the last time they were in Pullman in 2007. It was then that the Cougars edged the Huskies in the same manner, 4-3.

Despite the loss, Washington’s doubles teams remained strong and were able to get the match started off on a good note, with the top two of the three teams winning to claim the first point.

Sophomore Joyce Ardies, who had won with her partner, senior Tara Simpson, at the No. 1 doubles position, also found her groove in singles; she was the first to finish with a straight-set 6-2, 6-2 victory at the No. 4 spot.

Not long after, freshman Venise Chan, who is No. 30 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls, was upset by Cougar senior Ekaterina Burduli, (who is No. 52 in the ITA) avenging her 6-1, 6-1 loss earlier this season with a straight-set win, 6-1, 7-6, (3).

Washington was still able to keep it close, with senior Allison Rainey making her debut after two months of no competition due to illness.

She was able to pick up right where she left off and took down her opponent 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 6 singles position.

“It was exciting to be back in the lineup after two months since I haven’t played since February,” Rainey said. “It’s always disappointing after a loss, but it was still good to be playing again.”

Even with Rainey’s inspiring win, the Huskies weren’t able to pull out a victory for their last regular season dual match, dropping three singles matches to give the Cougars the win.

Their conference record has now dropped to 2-6, but the Huskies still have an overall winning record at 12-9 as they head into the Pac-10 championships next week.