TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State women's tennis team gets their competitive juices flowing once again before the start of the spring season at the Palm Springs Invitational from Friday, Jan. 15 through Sunday, Jan. 17.
Several of the top teams in the country -- and the Pac-12 -- will be in attendance for the singles and doubles fall format, as No. 2 USC, No. 8 Stanford, No. 9 UCLA, San Diego and Arizona all participate.
"I think it's a greay way to start off the winter/spring season," said head coach Sheila McInerney. "Really strong field and I think for us it's just a matter of getting your feet wet and competing again. We've had a good week and a half of practice after not seeing them for six weeks."
The last time the women saw live action on a court was exactly two months ago when they hosted the ASU Thunderbird Invitational from Nov. 13-15. Senior Desirae Krawczyk ended up winning the event in decisive fashion, taking all five matches in straight sets.
"It's a great opportunity for each of them from the individual standpoint again, but at this point, we have to be ready. We told the kids before they left in December that they need to be practicing a lot because we start fast. This is one of the strongest schedules we've had, particularly at the beginning."
Senior Ebony Panoho and junior Alexandra Osborne are currently ranked No. 39 in the first officlal ITA doubles rankings released on Jan. 5. Junior Kassidy Jump and freshman Sammi Hampton are right behind them at No. 42.
The draw for the tournament will be on Thursday evening and will be posted here upon completion.
SERVING NEXT
Once the women finish up in Palm Springs, there's no room for rest, as they head to Stillwater, Okla. for the ITA Kickoff Weekend. They'll take on Northwestern, No. 12 Oklahoma State and Notre Dame in a three-day span.