TEMPE -- While the paparazzi won't be in attendance, the red hot Arizona State women's tennis team may deserve some as they ride their nine-game winning streak through Hollywood to the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.
The No. 26 Sun Devils (15-4, 6-1) encounter the most important weekend they've played in months, as they play visitor to No. 23 UCLA (13-4, 5-1) on Friday, April 8 and No. 24 USC (10-4, 5-0) on Saturday, April 9.
"The kids are excited," said head coach Sheila McInerney. "Obviously we're playing well and we have a ton of respect for both UCLA and USC. We haven't beaten UCLA over there in 16 years, and they're good. Two years ago they won the National Title and last year they finished runner-up. They arguably had the better team but just didn't quite win it. They lost four seniors so they're sort of rebuilding again, but UCLA and rebuild don't really go together. They're still pretty darn good.
"If we play well, I think we have a good shot at both of these matches this weekend. But it comes down to having to play well against stiffer competition than some of the teams we've played on the road so far."
This season the Devils are 4-3 on the road and 3-0 away from Tempe in the conference. Their three losses came against then-No. 2 Ohio State, No. 9 Pepperdine and then-No. 26 Northwestern.
The ladies' doubles have gotten them off on the right foot in a majority of their matches this season, as they've won 17 of the 19 possible points. Junior Kassidy Jump and freshman Sammi Hampton have been a big contributor to that streak thanks to their own streak of 15-straight wins. They moved back into the ITA rankings this week at No. 65.
The senior pair of Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad have also made their mark after reuniting early in the regular season, winning seven-straight doubles points with an abandoned game in their most recent match.
The No. 26 pair of Ebony Panoho and Alex Osborne have held their own at the top doubles spot as well, going 7-2 as a pair this regular season in the top spot.
In singles, several Sun Devils are currently riding winning streaks. After a back and forth stretch for January and February, Krawczyk locked in for five-straight wins as of late -- with a mixed in unfinished match against Washington last weekend.
On court three, Panoho is currently riding a seven-game winning streak dating back to March 11. That doesn't mean it wasn't easy, as the senior has been battle tested with four three-set matches during that streak.
Her fellow senior Vlad has also found a rhythm as of late, rattling off five-straight victories and all in straight sets.
Hampton and junior Gussie O'Sullivan have held down courts five and six nearly flawlessly, combining for a 29-5 record in the regular season.
Friday's match with UCLA will start at 1:30 p.m. PT and live stats will be here. Saturday's battle with the Trojans will start at noon PT and can be streamed here.
Browsing the Bruins
The No. 23 Bruins are currently on a winning streak of their own, riding a four-game streak since falling to No. 19 Stanford on March 12. Catherine Harrison is UCLA's top singles player and is currently ranked No. 15 with a 14-2 overall record and 6-2 record against ranked opponents this season. Her and doubles partner Kyle McPhillips are currently ranked No. 5 in the new ITA rankings with a 12-1 spring record. They're also a perfect 5-0 against ranked opponents.
Talking About the Trojans
Like the Devils and Bruins, the No. 24 Trojans are also doing some streaking of their own with seven-straight victories. Their biggest win during that stretch came against then-No. 16 Oklahoma State at home, 5-2. The USC women have five of their six singles ranked in the ITA rankings, with Giuliana Olmos at No. 22, Gabby Smith at No. 103, Jessica Failla at No. 113, Madison Westby at No. 117 and Rianna Valdes at No. 120. In doubles, Olmos and Smith are ranked No. 8, creating two top-10 match-ups in two days for Panoho and Osborne. Zoe Katz and Westby are ranked No. 56.