TEMPE – Sun Devil Women's Tennis (2-2, 0-0 Big 12) returns to Tempe playing host to No. 15 Pepperdine (1-2, 0-0 WCC) on Saturday at Whiteman Tennis Center. The match is set to begin at 12 p.m. MST and will be the final non-conference home match of the season. The first 150 fans in attendance on Saturday will receive free pizza courtesy of the team.
LAST TIME OUT:
ASU will look to bounce back after dropping a pair of matches to Alabama and Wisconsin at the ITA kickoff weekend despite stellar efforts from Patricija Spaka and Lily Taylor. Spaka and Taylor sit a perfect 4-0 in doubles play and will look to build off another strong performance, while facing their toughest test yet against Pepperdine.
SUN DEVIL OUTLOOK:
Arizona State (2-2)
No. 15 Pepperdine (1-2)
IN THE RANKINGS:
The Sun Devils boast three players in the top-100 in the latest ITA Rankings which came out in the fall, all are sophomores. Emilija Tverijonaite is ranked 24th in the country after being ranked No. 52 at the start of the fall season. Sara Svetac entered the top-50 and is ranked No. 47 entering the Spring. Lastly, sophomore Ada Piestrzynska is No. 97 in the country after going 6-4 in the Fall and going 7-5 in doubles. The Sun Devils are one of two teams (Oklahoma State) in the Big 12 to have at least three players ranked in the top-100 of the ITA rankings,
SUPERIOR SPARKY:
Long time Sun Devil Patricija Spaka has been lights out to start things off in her senior year. Spaka is currently 3-0 in singles, with all of her victories coming in straight sets. Additionally, she has racked up a 4-0 record in doubles alongside partner Lily Evans. Spaka currently sits at 52 career wins in singles as she continues her climb for 60+ singles wins. She cemented herself as the 45th different player in program history to win 50+ singles matches. She matched up against Pepperdine once in her career by way of doubles, dropping the match 4-6 in the 2024 NCAA tournament.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK:
The team has four newcomers this 2025 Spring campaign featuring Denver transfer Karsyn Evans who had a 8-5 record during the fall season, boasts a 24-9 singles record. Freshman Aiya Nupbay picked up her first doubles win last week against Alabama and was paired with Emilija Tverijonaite. Nupbay had an 8-7 record over the fall. Karin Altori and Lily Taylor joined the team over the holiday break and each won their first two singles matches two weeks ago in the home opener. From Australia, Taylor has a perfect 4-0 record in doubles and a 2-2 record in singles while Altori has a 3-1 record in singles this season.
NEW CONFERENCE, WHO THIS?
The Sun Devils received votes in the ITA preseason poll announced on January 6, and were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Conference in the preseason poll announced on Jan. 7. The maroon and gold also picked up a first-place vote. In the first season competing in the Big 12, the Sun Devils boast a 98-23 record against current Big 12 competition.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Sun Devils will take a week off, then head to Eugene to face former Pac-12 foe Oregon on February 14th set for 12 p.m. MST, then face Washington on February 16th at 12 p.m. MST.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
Continue to follow Sun Devil Women's Tennis on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook for all the latest coverage this season. Fans can follow on live stats which can be found here.
LAST TIME OUT:
ASU will look to bounce back after dropping a pair of matches to Alabama and Wisconsin at the ITA kickoff weekend despite stellar efforts from Patricija Spaka and Lily Taylor. Spaka and Taylor sit a perfect 4-0 in doubles play and will look to build off another strong performance, while facing their toughest test yet against Pepperdine.
SUN DEVIL OUTLOOK:
Arizona State (2-2)
- The Sun Devils will look to remain undefeated (2-0) on home court under head coach Jamea Jackson. ASU took down LMU (7-0) and UC San Diego (6-1) in their opening match ups on Jan. 18th
- ASU will look to start 3-0 at home for the eighth time in the past decade, going at least 3-0 at home to start every season besides 2021, 2016 and 2015.
- Freshman Karin Altori has impressed early on in her Sun Devil career, currently sitting at 3-1 in singles play (6-2, 6-2 / 6-1, 6-3 / 3-6, 6-3, 3-6) while also standing tall in doubles with partner Sara Svatec, boasting a 2-1 record (7-6 / 3-6 / 6-3) heading into Saturday.
- The Sun Devils will look to stay in control of doubles play, as the squad has combined for a stellar 10-2 doubles record with the doubles pair of Taylor/Spaka currently leading the way while remaining undefeated (4-0).
- Arizona State currently trails Pepperdine in the all-time series, 7-9, dropping their last matchup in the second round of the 2024 NCAA tournament. The team is aiming for its first ranked win under first-year head coach Jamea Jackson.
No. 15 Pepperdine (1-2)
- The Waves will look to add their second win of the season after coming off a home win against Arizona (4-1). The victory helped them qualify for ITA Indoor National Championships which begins next month.
- Pepperdine will roll out five ranked athletes in #13 Savannah Broadus, #61 Vivian Yang, #90 Liam Oved, #91 Duru Soke and #112 Alexia Harmon per the ITA rankings
- Freshman Anastasiia Grechkina won her first match in singles play, defeating #74 Midori Castillo of Arizona to earn Grechkina West Coast Conference Singles Player of the Week award honors.
- The Waves have picked up wins in the last five straight matches against the Sun Devils.
IN THE RANKINGS:
The Sun Devils boast three players in the top-100 in the latest ITA Rankings which came out in the fall, all are sophomores. Emilija Tverijonaite is ranked 24th in the country after being ranked No. 52 at the start of the fall season. Sara Svetac entered the top-50 and is ranked No. 47 entering the Spring. Lastly, sophomore Ada Piestrzynska is No. 97 in the country after going 6-4 in the Fall and going 7-5 in doubles. The Sun Devils are one of two teams (Oklahoma State) in the Big 12 to have at least three players ranked in the top-100 of the ITA rankings,
SUPERIOR SPARKY:
Long time Sun Devil Patricija Spaka has been lights out to start things off in her senior year. Spaka is currently 3-0 in singles, with all of her victories coming in straight sets. Additionally, she has racked up a 4-0 record in doubles alongside partner Lily Evans. Spaka currently sits at 52 career wins in singles as she continues her climb for 60+ singles wins. She cemented herself as the 45th different player in program history to win 50+ singles matches. She matched up against Pepperdine once in her career by way of doubles, dropping the match 4-6 in the 2024 NCAA tournament.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK:
The team has four newcomers this 2025 Spring campaign featuring Denver transfer Karsyn Evans who had a 8-5 record during the fall season, boasts a 24-9 singles record. Freshman Aiya Nupbay picked up her first doubles win last week against Alabama and was paired with Emilija Tverijonaite. Nupbay had an 8-7 record over the fall. Karin Altori and Lily Taylor joined the team over the holiday break and each won their first two singles matches two weeks ago in the home opener. From Australia, Taylor has a perfect 4-0 record in doubles and a 2-2 record in singles while Altori has a 3-1 record in singles this season.
NEW CONFERENCE, WHO THIS?
The Sun Devils received votes in the ITA preseason poll announced on January 6, and were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 Conference in the preseason poll announced on Jan. 7. The maroon and gold also picked up a first-place vote. In the first season competing in the Big 12, the Sun Devils boast a 98-23 record against current Big 12 competition.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Sun Devils will take a week off, then head to Eugene to face former Pac-12 foe Oregon on February 14th set for 12 p.m. MST, then face Washington on February 16th at 12 p.m. MST.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
Continue to follow Sun Devil Women's Tennis on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook for all the latest coverage this season. Fans can follow on live stats which can be found here.