OJAI, Calif. -- Arizona State doubles team of Ebony Panoho and Alexandra Osborne defeated Stanford's Melissa Lord and Carol Zhao in straight sets for the Pac-12 Doubles Championship on Sunday afternoon. The Australian pair won 6-3, 6-1 over Stanford for the Sun Devils' first doubles conference championship in program history.
"Eb and Alex played really, really well today -- the best match they have played all year," said head coach Sheila McInerney. "Like yesterday, they were super solid with almost no unforced errors. In addition, they took it to the Stanford team and definitely were the more aggressive team."
Along with the doubles accomplishment, the No. 22 Sun Devils won the team championship for the first time in program history, which is determined by the total wins earned in the main Pac-12 draw in both singles and doubles combined. The Devils tallied nine, which was three more than the next conference opponent.
"It's an amazing feeling," said Panoho. "To win the doubles is great, but for the team to win the team trophy for the first time too is the icing on the cake. I love this team so much and I'm so excited to continue the success that we are having so far this season. It's a great way to be ending my career, but we aren't done yet."
The 'old-school tennis' as McInerney calls it certainly paid dividends, as the No. 22-ranked duo seemingly had no problems throughout the tournament. The accomplishment becomes a milestone for the program McInerney has been a part of for 32 seasons.
"It's so great for our program, as there have been so many incredible doubles teams from the Pac-12," said McInerney. "Eb and Alex played a fantastic match today and should only gain confidence from these wins."
The final conference win ends a stellar Pac-12 season for the duo after defeating then-No. 3 Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle of Stanford in March, then-No. 5 Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips of UCLA at the beginning of April and No. 7 Giuliana Olmos and Gabby Smith of USC just yesterday to advance to the championship match.
"We're super happy with the win today," said Osborne. "We both played really solid doubles with a great first serve percentage from both of us. We played really smart, were really aggressive with our returns, and we were on top of the net looking to finish every point up there. I'm really proud of Eb for getting this win with me in her senior year. It's been so awesome playing with her these past two years.
"Hard work is paying off and we are both really looking forward to NCAA's for team and individuals. We still have a lot of work to do and were both pumped for the upcoming month of NCAA play."
In the invitational doubles championship, junior Kassidy Jump and freshman Sammi Hampton may not have ended their conference season as they would have hoped, but in total finished 16-2 in the regular season together. The two fell 6-3 to UCLA's Terri Fleming and Alaina Miller.
The No. 22 Sun Devils now await their placement for the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced in the coming weeks.