STILLWATER, Okla. -- The Arizona State women's tennis team started off the ITA Kick-Off Weekend with a neck-and-neck match against No. 26 Northwestern in Stillwater, Okla.
"Really tough competitive match between the two teams," said head coach Sheila McInerney. "I thought we did some good things today but didn't come through on the important points. Congrats to Northwestern as they didn't give us any free points and made us work for everything."
The morning started off with the Wildcats taking two of the three doubles matches for an early one-point lead over No. 27 ASU.
Despite a constant battle, junior Kassidy Jump couldn't pull off the comeback over sophomore Erin Larner in a 6-3, 6-3 loss for the first singles' point of the afternoon for Northwestern.
Freshman Sammi Hampton held her own on court four, earning the first Sun Devil victory of the day over sophomore Alex Chatt 6-3, 6-1 to pull ASU within one point.
After winning the Palm Springs Invitational just a week ago, senior Desirae Krawczyk fell victim to redshirt sophomore Maddie Lipp -- who returned this season after a shoulder injury last season. Lipp would earn the second point for Northwestern with a 6-1, 6-4 victory. The Wildcats were then just a point away from winning the match.
Senior Ebony Panoho won in straight sets over Wildcat senior Alicia Barnett, 6-3, 6-3 on court three to pull the Sun Devils within one point yet again, down 3-2.
On court six, junior Alexandra Osborne was going toe to toe with Northwestern junior Brooke Rischbieth to potentially tie the match at three. After winning the first set 6-4, Rischbieth won the second set 7-6 (5) for the clinching point.
The Sun Devils continue their match play in the kick-off weekend tomorrow morning against No. 32 Notre Dame at 10:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. CT.
Follow live scoring on OSU's website here.
Northwestern 4 vs. Arizona State 2
Doubles | Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Court Two: Barnett/Larner (NU) def. Jump/Hampton (ASU), 6-4
Court Three: Peri/Or (NU) def. Krawczyk/O'Sullivan (ASU), 7-6
Court One: Lipp/Chatt (NU) vs. Panoho/Osborne (ASU), unf.
Singles | Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1, 3, 6*
No. 1: Lipp (NU) def. Krawczyk (ASU), 6-1, 6-4
No. 2: Larmer (NU) def. Jump (ASU), 6-3, 6-3
No. 3: Panoho (ASU) def. Barnett (NU), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4: Hampton (ASU) def. Chatt (NU), 6-3, 6-1
No. 5: Peri (NU) vs. O'Sullivan (ASU), 4-6, 6-6 (2-0) unf.
No. 6: Rischbieth (NU) def. Osborne (ASU), 6-4, 7-6 (5)