May 12, 2006
Waco, Texas -
The No. 22 Arizona State Sun Devils saw their season come to an end on Friday as the No. 32 Texas A&M Aggies eliminated the Sun Devils from the NCAA tournament with a 4-1 win in the first round. It marked the first time the Sun Devils had failed to win a game in the NCAA tournament since 1998 and drops them to 13-9 for the season.
The Devils scored a doubles win on court three as Wendy Pilecka and Rebecca Rankin defeated Anna Blagodarova and Marisa Druss 8-4. But the Aggies picked up wins on the other two courts to claim the doubles point. No. 25 Tiffany Clifford and Sarah Foster upset No. 16 Roxanne Clarke and Kady Pooler 8-6 on court one and soon after Anna Lubinsky and Nicki Mechem earned the decisive win on court two by defeating Sabrina Capannolo and Jessica Leitch 8-5.
In singles tied the score early as Rankin easily defeated Mechem 6-0, 6-1 on court four. The Aggies bounced back on court five when Clifford posted a 6-0, 7-5 win over Leitch and 57th-ranked Lubinsky downed No. 72 Capannolo, 6-4, 6-4, on court one. Blagarova clinched the victory for the Aggies with a three-set triumph, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, over Pooler.
The Sun Devil duo of Kady Pooler and Roxanne Clarke will return to action on May 25 as they compete in the NCAA Doubles championship hosted by Stanford, having been named an at-large selection to the field of 32. Clarke is also an alternate selection for the singles championship.