By Shayne Dwyer, SDA Media Relations
MALIBU, Calif. -- The No. 25 Arizona State Sun Devils (7-2; Pac-12 0-0) women's tennis team defeated the University of Nevada Las Vegas on Sunday, February 16, by a score of 6-1 on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.
"We competed really well today and I'm really happy with everyones performance," ASU head coach Sheila McInerney said.
ASU entered the match looking to bounce back from a loss to Pepperdine the day prior on the same court -- only the second loss for the nationally ranked squad this season.
"I'm really happy with the way all the girls rebounded from yesterday's loss," McInerney said.
Only dropping one point to the opposing team, ASU swiftly took care of business in the doubles competition, ending up on the winning side of 8-3 decisions on both courts two and three.
Joanna Smith and Leighann Sahagun defeated Iren Kotseva and Paola Artiga of UNLV, while Ebony Panoho and Stephanie Vlad handled the Rebels' Anett Ferenczi-Bako and Kamelia Dimitrova.
In singles play, Arizona State won out courts one through five with the only loss coming on court six for freshman Gussie O'Sullivan -- a retired match which ASU chose to cut short due to the overall match already being decided.
Stephanie Vlad, Desirae Krawczyk and Kassidy Jump all downed their opponents in two sets, while Leighann Shagaun and Joanna Smith took their UNLV counterparts to a third set tie-break in lieu of a full third set.
Vlad defeated Lucia Batta 6-4, 6-1 on court one, Krawczyk topped Santa Shumilina 6-1, 6-0 on the second court and Jump handled Kamelia Dimitrova on the fourth court, winning 6-2, 6-1.
Sahagun defeated Iren Kotseva 6-3, 3-6 (11-9) while Smith came back from losing the first set against Anett Ferenczi-Bako 4-6, 6-2 (10-5)
With a win and a loss for the weekend, Arizona State improves to seven and two on the season, with upcoming Pac-12 conference play only a few weeks away.
"We just need to keep working and improving as we have a lot of good teams to play in these next 2-3 months," McInerney said.
No. 25 Arizona State 6 :: UNLV 1
Pepperdine University
Malibu, California
2/16/14
11:00 a.m. PST
DOUBLES
1. Desirae Krawczyk/Kassidy Jump (ASU) vs. Lucia Batta/Santa Shumilina (UNLV) DNF
2. Joanna Smith/Leighann Sahagun (ASU) def. Iren Kotseva/Paola Artiga (UNLV) 8-3
3. Ebony Panoho/Stephanie Vlad(ASU) def. Anett Ferenczi-Bako/Kamelia Dimitrova (UNLV) 8-3
SINGLES
1. Stephanie Vlad (ASU) def. Lucia Batta (UNLV) 6-4, 6-1
2. Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) def. Santa Shumilina (UNLV) 6-1, 6-0
3. Leighann Sahagun (ASU) def. Iren Kotseva (UNLV) 6-3, 3-6 (11-9)
4. Kassidy Jump (ASU) def. Kamelia Dimitrova (UNLV) 6-2, 6-1
5. Joanna Smith (ASU) def. Anett Ferenczi-Bako (UNLV) 4-6, 6-2 (10-5)
6. Paola Artiga (UNLV) def. Gussie O'Sullivan (ASU) 4-6, 3-2 (ret.)