TEMPE -- The start of the seniors' final series at Whiteman Tennis Center turned out about as good as they could have planned, with the No. 26 Sun Devils winning their eighth-straight match. The 4-1 victory over No. 61 Washington also became their fifth-straight Pac-12 win.
Head coach Sheila McInerney stressed the importance of a quick start against the Huskies, as their doubles had won four-straight points entering the match and 14 of 18 on the season.
"We came out and played really good doubles," said McInerney. "When we play aggressively in doubles, we're pretty good."
While No. 22 Ebony Panoho and Alex Osborne were grinding on court one against No. 28 Miki Kobayashi and Nour Abbes, the Devils on courts two and three were taking care of business.
Birthday girl and junior Kassidy Jump and her freshman teammate Sammi Hampton continued to roll like a freight train downhill, winning their 14th-straight doubles point with a 6-1 victory over Elianne Douglas-Miron and Kenadi Hance.
It was only fitting that senior duo Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad applied the dagger, clinching the doubles point with a 6-2 win over Stacey Fung and Tami Grende.
It became the Devils 16th point in doubles out of their 18 games this season and ninth-straight. Their last doubles loss was Feb. 28 against No. 2 Ohio State.
"There's no question that it's a huge momentum builder by winning the doubles point," McInerney said. "That being said, you don't want to stress too much because if you lose the doubles point, you don't want to think the ship is sinking."
In singles, Vlad was nearly flawless, never trailing in route to her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Grende on court four for her fourth-straight singles win.
Not minutes later, Hampton clinched the Devils third point on court five. After losing the first point of the first set, Hampton never trailed and went on to win 6-1, 6-1 over Hance.
"They came out and we split the first set in singles -- we won three and they won three -- and it was good because Sammi and Steph got off the courts quickly. So were up 3-0 pretty easily."
After Washington earned their first and only point of the match on court two, the senior Aussie buckled down in a tight second set. Panoho won the first 6-1 with ease, but in the second, Douglas-Miron kept it within reach up to 4-3. Panoho finally extended it to 5-3 and at 40-all smoked one across her body on the line for the game-clinching point.
"It was closer than the 4-1 score for sure, but I was really happy with the win and proud of the kids," McInerney said. "I thought we played well and I think Washington is underranked. They're young and underrated. They've lost a lot of close ones this year."
Saturday's match with No. 62 Washington State potentially becomes the seniors final game at Whiteman Tennis Center.
"It really is keeping the emotions in check," McInerney said. "Family and friends are in town, and these three seniors have meant a lot to the program. They have all been starters throughout their career, which is huge. Des has played No. 1, Steph has played No. 1 and Eb is at No. 3 and No. 1 in doubles, so they've all made huge contributions to the program. So yeah, it will be emotional.
"They have some extra motivation to play well this weekend, so that's good."
The match starts with doubles at noon PT and the senior ceremony will start around 11:45 a.m. PT.
Parking in lot 59 -- around the tennis court and track and field stadium is free.
#26 Arizona State - 4, #61 Washington - 1 Whiteman Tennis Center Tempe, Ariz. Friday, April 1Doubles:
1. #22 Panoho/Osborne (ASU) vs. #28 Kobayashi/Abbes (UW) - 3-4 (Aband)
2. Krawczyk/Vlad (ASU) def. Fung/Grende (UW) - 6-2
3. Jump/Hampton (ASU) def. Douglar-Miron/Hance - 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2
Singles:
1. #24 Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) vs. Nour Abbes (UW) - 5-7, 3-4 (Aband)
2. Stacey Fung (UW) def. #66 Kassidy Jump (ASU) - 3-6, 2-6
3. Ebony Panoho (ASU) def. Elianne Douglas-Miron (UW) - 6-1, 6-3
4. Stephanie Vlad (ASU) def. Tami Grende (UW) - 6-1, 6-2
5. Sammi Hampton (ASU) def. Kenadi Hance (UW) - 6-1, 6-1
6. Gussie O'Sullivan (ASU) vs. Sophia Bott (UW) - 2-6, 5-3 (Aband)
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 2, 3