TEMPE – Anything can happen in the postseason, and this year the Sun Devils head into the Pac-12 Championships as the No. 3 seed hoping for an extended stay in Ojai, California, with one of the youngest squads in the conference.
"The girls are excited and we've got four new ones going to Ojai for the first time," coach Sheila McInerney said. "I think we want to stay a little bit longer than we did last year for sure."
As the No. 3 seed, the Devils received a bye into the quarterfinal round and their opponent will be determined in a first round match Wednesday between No. 6 Southern California and No. 11 Arizona.
"You pretty much wait to see what happens in the first round," McInerney said. "The good thing is we've played both of these teams quite recently and as far as singles goes, the lineups are the same so they'll come up against the same women they've played already."
Within the last two weeks, ASU has recorded victories over the Trojans and Wildcats as they won a nail-biter in Los Angeles 4-3, and fought off a U of A comeback to take the T-Cup Series point 4-2 in Tucson.
"In doubles, Arizona's switched it up a bit, but honestly for either opponent it's going to be the same match, different day," McInerney said. "With that being said, the kids know the good and the bad from their last outings and you just have to wait to see what happens. This time of the year, anything can happen."
The Devils met USC in the quarterfinal last season where the Trojans bested ASU, 4-3. This year, the Sun Devils are led by an unlikely tandem that has had one of the most impressive runs in school history.
No. 15 Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh are two newcomers to Tempe who have been on a tear with their impressive 16-1 record in doubles, and are vying for a coveted place in the field of 32 at the NCAA Doubles Championships in May.
"They've gotten more aggressive now and that's something you have to do on court one," McInerney said. "They're 16-1 and that's crazy. That's as good a record as we've ever had. It's pretty easy to lose a set of tennis, but they haven't strayed too much mentally this whole season. Depending on what they do at Pac-12s, they should get into the tournament. It would be a nice feather in our cap if they could make that field."
McInerney's squad takes to the court Thursday at 10:30 a.m., in Ojai at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club. The match between Southern Cal and U of A will be one of the first of the weekend as it's slated to begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Scores and updates from the championships will be available on the Pac-12 website.
Rankings Update
Arizona State grabbed a crucial Territorial Cup Series point in their victory over Arizona last weekend, but the win wasn't enough to keep the Devils from getting leapfrogged by surrounding teams as they were pushed to 35th in the updated ranking.
Conference leader UCLA leads the way at No. 13, and Stanford's steady climb in the poll has landed the Cardinal at 16. The Pac-12's seven-seed, Oregon slots in at No. 30. Behind the Sun Devils is Washington at No. 43, Cal at 45, Washington State at 48 and Southern Cal in 49th.
In singles rankings, Lauryn John-Baptiste remains on the list following her win this weekend. She comes in at No. 61, but her partnership with Ilze Hattingh has the England international among the elites this season.
The South African and English combination is 15th in the nation and the third-highest ranked doubles duo in a loaded Pac-12 conference.
Last Time Out
The Sun Devil women's tennis team secured an important Territorial Cup Series point with a 4-2 victory over in-state rival Arizona Saturday in Tucson.
The charge to victory got started with a dominating doubles performance on all three courts that saw the Devils make quick world of the three U of A tandems with Fossa Huergo/Klanecek sweeping on court three and No. 17 John-Baptiste/Hattingh winning 6-1 on court one. Slaysman/Kolarova were up 5-2 before the point was clinched on court one.
In singles play, Lauryn John-Baptiste won on court one to give the Devils a 2-0 lead, then Arizona won two straight on courts three and four.
The go-ahead point was scored by Sasa Klanecek on court five, then Tereza Kolarova clinched the match for the Sun Devils by taking down Sophia Thomas in three sets on court six. In their first Territorial Cup Series matchup, all three of coach Sheila McInerney's freshmen didn't blink as they sealed their first win over the in-state rival.
Double Trouble
With a relatively young team consisting of three freshmen and two sophomores, the 2018 Sun Devil squad has found leadership and consistency outside of its lone senior Nicole Fossa Huergo from a pair of newcomers.
Playing on courts two and one for the entire season, Ilze Hattingh and Lauryn John-Baptiste have combined to not only clinch six of the Devils' 15 wins, but also as a tandem had one of the most prolific debut seasons in ASU history.
The duo began the season unranked and playing on court two, but the NCAA has taken notice as the young Devils have accumulated 16 wins and just one loss and are now in position to make the NCAA Doubles Championships as they sit ranked 15th in the nation in the Oracle/ITA Rankings.
They are the joint-youngest tandem in the top-20 as there are only three sophomore/freshman pairings among the elite of the NCAA.
John-Baptiste/Hattingh would need to finish in the top-32 to earn a place in the NCAA Doubles Championships scheduled for later next month. Should they receive a berth, it would be the seventh time in the past decade the Devils have sent a representative to the Tournament.
A Look Back
As the three-seed a season ago, the Devils faced a familiar opponent in six-seed USC and dropped a nail-biter 4-3 in Ojai to end their Pac-12 Championships run.
The Devils took the doubles point with wins on courts two and three, but USC was too much for ASU in singles as the Trojans won four of the six matches to claim the match and advance to the semifinal round.
Savannah Slaysman actually put ASU up 2-0, but USC tied it with wins on courts two and three before Kassidy Jump upset No. 37 Jessica Failla on court one, then the Trojans rolled to the 4-3 win.
It was a mirror image of the matchup earlier in the season in Tempe that saw the Devils fall once again 4-3.