TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State women's tennis team finished the weekend with back-to-back victories, but it didn't come easy during their 5-2 win over Long Beach State on Sunday.
Four of the six singles matches went to a deciding third set, with the No. 27 Sun Devils coming through in the clutch to win two of them over the No. 38 49ers.
"They're competitve and I expected this," said head coach Sheila McInerney. "Hopefully our kids expected this. They're a good team and thought we played good doubles -- particularly on courts two and three. We then got off to good starts in singles."
The reuniting senior pair of Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad cruised to a 6-1 victory on court two over Maeva Razakasoa and Julie Gerard.
49ers' duo of Hayley Thompson and Laura Eales knocked off senior Ebony Panoho and junior Alexandra Osborne 3-6, bringing the doubles point down to the final match.
Junior Kassidy Jump and freshman Sammi Hampton helped keep the Sun Devils doubles' streak alive, moving the team's winning streak to seven-straight matches.
Singles was a grueling and trying battle for most of the women, even though ASU got off to a great start.
"It was great again for Sammi to be the first one off again and Gussie got off pretty quickly," McInerney said. "We were up 3-0 pretty easily and then let's face it, then we had dog fights on courts 1-4."
Hampton and junior Gussie O'Sullivan won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 and 6-2, 6-3 respectively.
But like McInerney said, it was a whole other story on the north courts.
All four courts saw their respective matches go to a third set.
After winning the first set 6-1, Panoho lost some momentum losing the second set 3-6 to Gerard. The third set begun with a 2-3 deficit for the Australian senior. Like the flip of a switch the momentum swung back, as Panoho rolled for four-straight points to win 6-3 and clinch the fourth point & the match for the Sun Devils.
One court over, Vlad had an even bigger challenge after dropping the first set 4-6. Like her fellow senior, Vlad rallied to win the next two sets, 6-4, 6-2, to win her match with Thompson.
On the top two courts, an emotional and tense grind ensued for Jump and Krawczyk.
"Kass and Desirae had to battle," McInerney said. "For Kass, she had an opportunity in her match (to win) but the girl made her play that extra ball -- could have gone either way."
Jump, who took the first set 7-5, lost the final two in close, down-to-the-wire matches. The third and final set saw several intense volleys before Unden won the seven-point tiebreak, 7-4 in the third set to win 6-7 (4).
Krawczyk also won the first set before a late rally and minor injury to Krawczyk led Razakasoa to back-to-back victories -- 7-6 (9-7) and 6-3 -- earned the 49ers a second point.
"Give credit to Long Beach State for battling," McInerney said. "We knew they were really strong 1-4 and they certainly were today, no question.
"Overall, it was a good effort certainly against a good team. It's certainly going to help us -- four three-set matches is only going to help you down the road. That match was certainly in contention for quite a while, and they all felt the nerves from it, and that's going to help us down the road."
The Sun Devils will have six days to prepare for their toughest challenge this season, as they travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State.
"We know so far we've played well on the road, but we've just played some tough teams," McInerney said. "Ohio State is going to be the best team we've played all year -- they beat Pepperdine earlier this year and right now they're No. 5 in the country. We're playing them indoors and they're playing as well as anyone in the country.
"I think it should be a fun match with a great crowd. They do a good job there in Columbus and they have the best team they've ever had there by far. I think we expect to go into a real hostile environment, but it should be a fun hostile environment."
No. 27 Arizona State - 5, No. 38 Long Beach State - 2
February 21, 2016
Whiteman Tennis Center
Tempe, Ariz.
Doubles
1. Thompson/Eales (LBSU) def. Panoho/Osborne (ASU) -- 6-3
2. Krawczyk/Vlad (ASU) def. Razakasoa/Gerard (LBSU) -- 6-1
3. Jump/Hampton (ASU) def. Under/Sanders (LBSU) -- 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. Maeva Razakasoa (LSBU) def. Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) -- 1-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3
2. Ebba Unden (LBSU) def. Kassidy Jump (ASU) -- 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
3. Ebony Panoho (ASU) def. Julie Gerard (LSBU) - 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
4. Stephanie Vlad (ASU) def. Hayley Thompson (LBSU) -- 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Sammi Hampton (ASU) def. Laura Eales (LBSU) -- 6-3, 6-4
6. Gussie O'Sullivan (ASU) def. Georgie Sanders (LBSU) -- 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 3, 4, 2, 1
Exhibition
7. Alexandra Osborne (ASU) def. Ella Monsey (LBSU) -- 6-2, 6-2