Oct. 2, 2009
The Arizona State University women's tennis team opened their season with a successful first day at the Cal Nike Invitational, held in Berkeley, Calif. With all five of ASU's competing players in the "A" flight, the Sun Devils played some of the top competition in the country.
"I though it was a good day and a good way to start," said 26th year head coach Sheila McInerney. "We played some very good people and I was happy all of the girls were in the `A' flight so they could play against the top competition."
No. 7 Kelcy McKenna began her junior season sweeping both of her opponents in singles action. McKenna, who is the defending Cal/Nike Champion and earned a No. 2 seeding, earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory in her opening match over BYU's Kristina Doerr. The returning All-American followed up that stellar performance with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Ana-Marie Constantinescu of Oklahoma.
Micaela Hein looked solid in her initial match of her junior season. Hein, who is ranked No. 68, handily swept Dahra Zamudio of UC Davis in straight sets, claiming a 6-1, 6-1 victory. In the second round, she battled her way back after dropping her first set 2-6 to beat Stephany Chang of Cal 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. Hein will take on top seeded Jana Juricova in tomorrow's quarterfinals.
"It was great to see Micaela emerge from being down in the third set of her second match," said McInerney. "Now she gets to play the No. 1 seed tomorrow, which is a great experience for her."
Sophomore Michelle Brycki won her first match, defeating Long Beach State's Jaklin Alawi in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-4. The Australian native fell in her second match of the day, losing 6-2, 6-3 to Mari Andersson of Cal. Ashlee Brown and Sianna Simmons dropped their two matches.
Returning All-Americans and currently 12th ranked duo McKenna and Hein earned a first round doubles win over Fresno Stat'es Melissa McQueen and Olga Kirpicheva. Hein and McKenna emerged from a hard-fought tie-breaker to win 9-8. Simmons and Brycki dropped their first match 8-5 to Jennifer Widjaja and Sasha Fisher of Pacific.
The Sun Devils will continue competing in the Cal Nike Invitational through Sunday.