TEMPE, Ariz. – The 24th-ranked Arizona State women’s tennis team (12-4, 3-1 Pac-12) fell to fierce competition from No. 13 Stanford in the Sun Devils’ conference home opener, Friday, at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinal defeated the Sun Devils 6-1 with junior Ebony Panoho playing a key role in victories in singles and doubles matches.
“I’m disappointed in the result. We came out to play in the doubles and had chances to win,” said head coach Sheila McInerney. “We got off the court quickly on court three but once we lost the tie breaker point in the second doubles match it took the wind out of our sails, from a coaching standpoint is disappointing.”
The doubles pair of Panoho and Alexandra Osborne sealed the first doubles victory 8-2 over Stanford’s Krista Hardebeck and Lindsey Kostas for the Sun Devils on court three. However, a contentious doubles match on court one between Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad and Stanford’s Tayler Davidson and Carol Zhao failed to go in ASU’s favor with the Cardinal pulling out a 8-7 (2) victory.
“I don’t think we had the energy we needed to beat a really good Stanford team,” said McInerney. “You have to fight tooth and nail for that victory.”
Panoho secured the lone point for the Sun Devils with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Kotas on the sixth court singles.
The Sun Devils return to the courts tomorrow to host No. 3 California at Noon PT at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
“For Cal tomorrow we have to come out even tougher. We have the utmost respect for Cal and Stanford and Cal has beat Stanford already this year. If we thought today was tough, tomorrow will be just as tough, if not tougher.”
Stanford 6, Arizona State 1
March 27, 2015
Whiteman Tennis Center
Tempe, Ariz.
Doubles
1. Davidson/Zhao (STAN) def. Krawczyk/Vlad (ASU), 8-7 (2)
2. Doyle/Tsay (STAN) def. Smith/Jump (ASU), 8-5
3. Panoho/Osborne (ASU) def. Hardebeck/Kostas (STAN), 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. Carol Zhao (STAN) def. Desirae Krawczyk (ASU), 6-7 (2), 6-1, 10-8 (5)
2. Tayler Davidson (STAN) def. Stephanie Vlad (ASU), 6-4, 6-2
3. Caroline Doyle (STAN) def. Kassidy Jump (ASU), 6-2, 6-0
4. Krista Hardebeck (STAN) def. Joanna Smith (ASU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Ellen Tsay (STAN) def. Leighann Sahagun (ASU), 6-1, 6-3
6. Ebony Panoho (ASU) def. Lindsey Kostas (STAN), 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 4, 1, 2, 6