TEMPE – Coming off a road win against No. 29 San Diego, No. 23 Sun Devil Women's Tennis returns home to face Utah on Thursday, February 27th at 4 p.m. MST. The team will then shift focus with a ranked matchup against No. 51 BYU on Saturday, March 1st at 1 p.m. MST at Whiteman Tennis Center.
These will be the first Big 12 matches for ASU in program history and the Sun Devils will look to start conference play on the right foot after a solid non-conference performance. The team has won three of its last four matches and the Sun Devils are 3-0 when playing at Whiteman Tennis Center.
Sun Devil Outlook:
No. 23 Arizona State (5-3)
Opponent Outlook:
Utah (5-4)
No. 51 BYU (10-3)
Last Time Out:
The Sun Devils defeated No. 29 San Diego with a 4-0 sweep last Saturday. Sara Svetac and Karin Altori both significantly contributed to Arizona State, then each of them was victorious in singles action. Lily Taylor and Spaka clinched the doubles point for the Sun Devils to stay a perfect 6-0 this season. An additional singles victory came courtesy of Emilija Tverijonaite, who clinched the match for ASU for her first-ranked win of the season over No. 26 Kailey Evans
IN THE RANKINGS:
The Sun Devils boast two players in the top 50 in the latest ITA Rankings which were updated on February 5. Emilija Tverijonaite is ranked 34th in the country after an NCAA tournament appearance and is currently 2-2 on the year. Sara Svetac entered the top-50 at the end of the fall and is currently No. 40. The Sun Devils are one of two teams (Oklahoma State) in the Big 12 to have at least two players ranked in the top-50 in the ITA rankings.
The team climbed the ITA rankings jumping 12 spots after defeating No. 29 San Diego last week to No. 23 in the country. They're one of four teams currently ranked in the top 25 in the ITA Rankings as of Feb. 25.
Spaka has been lights out to start things off in her senior year. Spaka is currently 5-0 in singles, with all of her victories coming in straight sets. Additionally, she has racked up a 6-0 record in doubles alongside partner Lily Taylor. Spaka currently sits at 57 career wins in singles as she continues her climb for 60+ singles wins. She cemented herself as the 46th different Sun Devil in program history to win 50+ singles matches.
Super Sara:
The Sophomore is currently 5-2 this season and has split time between the #1 and #2 spots in singles, and was named Big 12 Player of the Week and earned a top-15 victory over Savannah Broadus of Pepperdine at the beginning of the month. Svetac came off a successful fall season where she went 8-4 and is also 5-3 in doubles when paired with Karin Altori.
NEW CONFERENCE, WHO THIS?
The Sun Devils 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 continue Big 12 conference play by traveling to the Midwest with a showdown with No. 42 Kansas on March 7th at 3 p.m. MST in Lawrence, KS and then head to Ames, Iowa with a match against No. 54 Iowa State at 9 a.m. AZT.
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.
These will be the first Big 12 matches for ASU in program history and the Sun Devils will look to start conference play on the right foot after a solid non-conference performance. The team has won three of its last four matches and the Sun Devils are 3-0 when playing at Whiteman Tennis Center.
Sun Devil Outlook:
No. 23 Arizona State (5-3)
- The team returns home for the first time since Feb. 1 where the Sun Devils defeated No. 15 Pepperdine.
- The doubles pair of Lily Taylor and Patricija Spaka is undefeated (6-0) so far this season.
- They have defeated two top-20 opponents this season in doubles after beating No. 19 Claudia de las Heras/Kailey Evans.
- Spaka is also unbeaten (5-0) in singles competition, the second time in her career she's started singles play unbeaten through five matches.
- Sophomore Sara Svetac is unbeaten at the #2 spot, she's currently 4-0 this year.
- The team boasts a 15-7 record in doubles play and has won the doubles point six of the last eight matches this season.
- The Sun Devils are 13-1 all-time against Utah and 7-1 all-time against BYU
Opponent Outlook:
Utah (5-4)
- Started the month of February with three-straight wins, but have dropped the previous two matches against San Diego State and UC San Diego
- The Utes are 25-15 in singles play and 14-9 in doubles
- Juniors Kaila Barksdale and Emma Valletta are 7-1 and 6-1 in singles play, respectively.
- Last win against ASU came on April 13th, 2012
No. 51 BYU (10-3)
- Have won eight matches in a row dating back to a 7-0 win against Eastern Washington on February 1st.
- This is the first meeting against the Sun Devils since 2015, where ASU won 6-1.
- The Cougars are 24-9 in singles play and 11-6 in doubles.
- Senior Grace Levelston is 7-1 in singles and has won four matches in a row entering the week. She is 6-0 from. the #1 spot this season.
- Kendall Kovick has won eight in a row and is currently 4-0 in the #2 spot.
- The Cougars face Arizona on Thursday before facing the Sun Devils on Saturday.
Last Time Out:
The Sun Devils defeated No. 29 San Diego with a 4-0 sweep last Saturday. Sara Svetac and Karin Altori both significantly contributed to Arizona State, then each of them was victorious in singles action. Lily Taylor and Spaka clinched the doubles point for the Sun Devils to stay a perfect 6-0 this season. An additional singles victory came courtesy of Emilija Tverijonaite, who clinched the match for ASU for her first-ranked win of the season over No. 26 Kailey Evans
IN THE RANKINGS:
The Sun Devils boast two players in the top 50 in the latest ITA Rankings which were updated on February 5. Emilija Tverijonaite is ranked 34th in the country after an NCAA tournament appearance and is currently 2-2 on the year. Sara Svetac entered the top-50 at the end of the fall and is currently No. 40. The Sun Devils are one of two teams (Oklahoma State) in the Big 12 to have at least two players ranked in the top-50 in the ITA rankings.
The team climbed the ITA rankings jumping 12 spots after defeating No. 29 San Diego last week to No. 23 in the country. They're one of four teams currently ranked in the top 25 in the ITA Rankings as of Feb. 25.
The Sun Devils have played a rigorous schedule thus far before starting conference play. The team has played five teams currently ranked in the top-35 of the ITA rankings with five Big 12 opponents (including ASU) currently residing in the top-30 as of February 25th.
SUPERIOR SPARKY:Spaka has been lights out to start things off in her senior year. Spaka is currently 5-0 in singles, with all of her victories coming in straight sets. Additionally, she has racked up a 6-0 record in doubles alongside partner Lily Taylor. Spaka currently sits at 57 career wins in singles as she continues her climb for 60+ singles wins. She cemented herself as the 46th different Sun Devil in program history to win 50+ singles matches.
Super Sara:
The Sophomore is currently 5-2 this season and has split time between the #1 and #2 spots in singles, and was named Big 12 Player of the Week and earned a top-15 victory over Savannah Broadus of Pepperdine at the beginning of the month. Svetac came off a successful fall season where she went 8-4 and is also 5-3 in doubles when paired with Karin Altori.
NEW CONFERENCE, WHO THIS?
The Sun Devils 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 continue Big 12 conference play by traveling to the Midwest with a showdown with No. 42 Kansas on March 7th at 3 p.m. MST in Lawrence, KS and then head to Ames, Iowa with a match against No. 54 Iowa State at 9 a.m. AZT.
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.