LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 20, 2018) – The Wyoming tennis team will be in action at home this weekend as it hosts the Wyoming Invite. The three day tournament will run Friday-Sunday at the UW Tennis Courts in Laramie. Air Force, Central Oklahoma and Colorado State will be the other teams participating in the tournament.
 
"The team has had a great week of practice working on our style of tennis all week," head coach Dean Clower said. "This weekend will be exciting to see our progression. Playing in front of the greatest fans in the country always makes things much more comfortable for the newcomers and right at home for the upperclassmen."
 
Wyoming opened up the fall season last weekend at the ITA Bedford Cup in the Mountains. Senior Tessa van Der Ploeg and junior Ana Royo went 2-2 overall in singles on the weekend, while freshman Mihaela Kaftanova went 3-2. Senior Elisa Koonik and van Der Ploeg capped off the four days with a 2-2 mark in doubles, while Kaftanova and Royo sported a 1-3 record and freshmen Ana Fernandez and Ida Krause went 2-3.
 
Several individuals will be looked upon to help the Cowgirls in 2018-19, including Koonik and van Der Ploeg. Koonik finished her junior campaign with a 20-8 overall singles record and 17-12 in doubles action, which helped her earn MW honors in both categories. She currently ranks 11th all-time with 54 doubles wins and 16th in singles with 54. van Der Ploeg recorded a 15-11 mark in singles and 17-12 in doubles. The other returning letterwinner is Myiah Scott. There are also five newcomers to the squad who hope to contribute to the team in Ana Fernandez, Mihaela Kaftanova, Ida Krause, Maria Oreshkina and Ana Royo.
 
Wyoming will compete in four more tournaments following this weekend. The Colorado State Invite, Oct. 5-7, the ITA Mountain Regional Tournament, Oct. 10-14, in Las Vegas and the Red and Blue Challenge, Nov. 2-5, in Dallas. The spring schedule begins on the road at the Hurricane Invite in Tulsa.  UW's first conference match will be Friday, March 29 against New Mexico.