By Jake Hernandez, SDA Media Relations
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 29 Arizona State women’s tennis team defeated No. 65 Brigham Young 6-1 on a beautiful Valentine’s Day afternoon at Whiteman Tennis Center.
“It is nice to get a win. Certainly, I thought it was a little tight in the doubles and it could be because we have not played a match in a couple weeks,” said ASU head coach Sheila McInerney. “Steph and Des fell behind in doubles but they did a great job coming back by winning it in the tiebreaker.”
The Sun Devils took the early advantage by winning in doubles as juniors Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad defeated BYU’s Jones and Miclat in a close match, 7-6. After junior Ebony Panoho and sophomore Alex Osborne defeated BYU’s Dizon and Anderson to tie doubles 1-1, Krawczyk and Vlad rallied to force and win the tiebreaker to give ASU the early advantage heading into singles.
The Sun Devils got into quick 4-1 lead on the day as Krawczyk, Vlad and Jump all took their matches in two sets. With 4 points to win the day, ASU and BYU continued to battle in the final two matches. Sophomore Gussie got a hard fought victory against BYU’s Littlewood by rallying to win in two sets, 7-6, 6-2. After losing the first set to BYU’s Miclat, senior Joanna Smith rallied back to win the last two sets in tiebreakers, 1-6, 7-6, 7-5.
“Des played well, Gussie battled and it was nice to see Joanna come back and win it the way she did,” said head coach Sheila McInerney. “All-in-all, it was good for us to come off a couple tough losses and come back and win. We play again next week, and I think we can get back into a rhythm.”
Next up, the Sun Devils will host Northern Arizona in Tempe on Friday, Feb. 20 at 1:30 p.m. MST.
#29 Arizona State 6, #65 Brigham Young University 1
February 14, 2015 – Whiteman Tennis Center
Singles
1. Krawczyk (ASU) def. Jones (BYU), 6-4, 6-2
2. Vlad (ASU) def. Sheehan-Dizon (BYU), 6-2, 6-1
3. Jump (ASU) def. Tran (BYU), 7-6, 6-2
4. Smith (ASU) def. Miclat (BYU), 1-6, 7-6, 7-5
5. Ware (BYU) def. Panaho (ASU), 6-3, 6-0
6. O’Sullivan (ASU) def. Littlewood (BYU), 7-5, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 2, 3, 1, 6, 4*
Doubles
1. Krawczyk/Vlad (ASU) def. Jones/MiClat (BYU), 7-6
2. Tran/Ware (BYU) def. Smith/Jump (ASU), 6-2
3. Panoho/Osborne (ASU) def. Dizon/Anderson (BYU), 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1*