LOS ANGELES—The Arizona State women’s tennis team dropped its first match in over a month to USC Sunday at Marks Tennis Stadium in Los Angeles, California. No. 26 Arizona State was defeated by No. 24 Trojans 4-0.
“Credit to USC as they came out and were the more aggressive team in both singles and doubles. They were clearly the better team today. With that being said, I was disappointed that we didn't compete better on all three doubles courts and all six singles matches. You have to earn a win against a good team and we did not earn the W today, “explained head coach Sheila McInerney.
The Sun Devils (16-5, 7-2) had won 10-straight matches, dating back to the program's second-ever victory over Stanford, 4-3, on March 5.
ASU started off to a tough start, dropping the first doubles set 1-6 to Zoë Katz and Madison Westby of USC.
Kassidy Jump and Sammi Hampton were defeated by Jessica Failla and Rianna Valdes 6-3, giving the Sun Devil duo their first loss since January 23rd against Northwestern.
Australian duo Ebony Panoho and Alex Osborne battled it out, tied 3-3 against No. 8 Gabby Smith and Giuliana Olmos. Their match was abandoned at 3-5 after Sun Devil losses on courts two and three.
Down by a doubles point, The Devils struggled to hold on in singles.
Kassidy Jump and Ebony Panoho both suffered tough losses on courts two and three. Ebony Panoho fell first to Zoë Katz of USC 6-1, 6-1. Jump was close behind, she was defeated by Madison Westby 6-4, 6-0 after a tight first set.
On court one, after a first set loss 1-6, Desirae Krawczyk fought throughout the second set eventually evening the score 6-6 in the second with Giuliana Olmos of USC before the match was abandoned.
After dropping the first set 1-6, Gussie O’Sullivan made a second set comeback 6-1 over Rianna Valdes. With sets split, the match was abandoned before the third set could begin.
Senior Stephanie Vlad stood her ground, down 2-4 she battled to tie it up 6-6. Vlad eventually dropped her first set 6-7 in a tough tie-breaker. Her match was abandoned at 2-1 in the second set after the clinching match was won by the Trojans. Jessica Failla of USC defeated Sammi Hampton 6-4, 6-3 to seal the victory for the Trojans. The Sun Devils fell to USC 0 to 4.
As the Devils look forward, McInerney assured “We will learn from this and I believe it will resonate with the team as we look forward to finishing the regular season on a strong note”.
Next Saturday, April 16 the Sun Devils take on rival Arizona in Tucson for the final match of the regular season and the Territorial Cup® point for tennis.
#26 Arizona State 0, #23 USC 4
Marks Tennis Stadium (University of Southern California)
Los Angeles, CA
Sunday, April 10
Doubles
1. # 26 Ebony Panoho/Alexandra Osborne (ASU) vs. #8 Giuliana Olmos/Gabby Smith (USC) 3-5 (UNF.)
2. #56 Zoë Katz/Madison Westby (USC) def. Desirae Krawczyk/Stephanie Vlad (ASU) 6-1
3. Jessica Failla/Rianna Valdes (USC) def. #65 Kassidy Jump/Sammi Hampton (ASU) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. #23 Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) vs. # 22 Giuliana Olmos (USC) 6-1, 6-6 (UNF.)
2. Madison Westby (USC) def. #84 Kassidy Jump (ASU) 6-4, 6-0
3. Zoë Katz (USC) def. Ebony Panoho (ASU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Stephanie Vlad (ASU) vs. Gabby Smith (USC) 6-7, 2-1 (UNF.)
5. Jessica Failla (USC) def. Sammi Hampton (ASU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Gussie O’Sullivan (ASU) vs. Rianna Valdes (USC) 1-6, 6-1 (UNF.)
Order of finish: 3, 2, 5