ANN ARBOR, Mich. – After wrapping up the fall season with success at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, Sun Devil women's tennis – ranked No. 22 in the ITA preseason poll – make first serve on the 2017 regular season this Saturday at the Michigan Invitational.
The three-day tournament features a round-robin format with No. 14 Michigan, Tennessee and DePaul. There is no team scoring (win or loss), however, at the event.
"It's a lot like what we did in Tennessee, where it's a pseudo-dual match," said head coach Sheila McInerney, entering her 33rd year at ASU. "You play doubles against one team and singles against another. The beauty of it is you have all three of your doubles pairs out there, which you would in a dual match, and all six of your singles players. Even though you're not playing the same team each day, you can simulate how you would have done if it was a dual match."
Each team will play three rounds of doubles and three rounds of singles. There will be up to eight flights in singles and four flights in doubles per round. Each team will play one round of singles and one round of doubles per day. The third set will be played to completion in singles. Points will be allotted for each win based on the following decreasing point value to determine the champion (singles and doubles) at the end of the weekend.
At this time last year, the Sun Devils were entering an individual tournament where singles and doubles played individually. While former All-American Desirae Krawczyk did win the singles tournament, McInerney preferred her team preparing as a group for the regular-season format.
"It's really good at the beginning of the year," said McInerney. "All three teams are good. Michigan is a top-10 team, Tennessee is a lot like us – we played them in the fall and it was a really close match – and we don't know too much about DePaul, but (head coach) Mark Ardizzone always has a good team. We're excited about it."
The 2016 Thunderbird Invitational ended with senior Kassidy Jump capturing the singles title, while the doubles team of freshman Savannah Slaysman and newcomer Kelley Anderson went undefeated in their three matches.
In the Thunderbird Championship final, Jump had to defeat her doubles partner – sophomore Sammi Hampton – who opens up the season with the highest singles ranking on the team at No. 49.
Jump's championship victory earned her the No. 63 preseason ranking in singles, while Slaysman and Anderson opened up at No. 36 in doubles.
"The end of the fall was good," said McInerney. "There are a lot of new parts with three new players and losing two All-Americans, but the kids have assimilated well. The biggest obstacle for us was having 44 days between Thanksgiving and the first practice, but the kids came back in good shape. We've had a solid week of practice. We'll be match rusty like the other teams, but Monday we'll be back in the flow of it heading into our first dual match at home next week."
ASU will open up the tournament with singles at 10 a.m. CT against Tennessee, followed by doubles at 1 p.m. CT against DePaul on Saturday. Sunday will feature doubles at 1 p.m. CT against Tennessee followed by singles against Michigan. Monday includes singles at 10 a.m. CT against DePaul followed by doubles versus Michigan at 1 p.m.
Coach McInerney wants to see one thing this weekend from her team more than anything else.
"I just want the girls to be really team oriented. Cheer each other on and get into that regular season mindset."
The scoring system will be as follows:
Win at No. 1 position -- 8 points
Win at No. 2 position -- 7 points
Win at No. 3 position -- 6 points
Win at No. 4 position -- 5 points
Win at No. 5 position -- 4 points
Win at No. 6 position -- 3 points
Win at No. 7 position -- 2 points
Win at No. 8 position -- 1 point
For the second consecutive year, the NCAA will use no-ad scoring in both doubles and singles action. This weekend's tournament will feature doubles matches to six, with a tiebreaker occurring at 6-all. Singles matches will be best two-of-three, with players playing a full third set.
Live scoring and information can be found on Michigan's website here.
The three-day tournament features a round-robin format with No. 14 Michigan, Tennessee and DePaul. There is no team scoring (win or loss), however, at the event.
"It's a lot like what we did in Tennessee, where it's a pseudo-dual match," said head coach Sheila McInerney, entering her 33rd year at ASU. "You play doubles against one team and singles against another. The beauty of it is you have all three of your doubles pairs out there, which you would in a dual match, and all six of your singles players. Even though you're not playing the same team each day, you can simulate how you would have done if it was a dual match."
Each team will play three rounds of doubles and three rounds of singles. There will be up to eight flights in singles and four flights in doubles per round. Each team will play one round of singles and one round of doubles per day. The third set will be played to completion in singles. Points will be allotted for each win based on the following decreasing point value to determine the champion (singles and doubles) at the end of the weekend.
At this time last year, the Sun Devils were entering an individual tournament where singles and doubles played individually. While former All-American Desirae Krawczyk did win the singles tournament, McInerney preferred her team preparing as a group for the regular-season format.
"It's really good at the beginning of the year," said McInerney. "All three teams are good. Michigan is a top-10 team, Tennessee is a lot like us – we played them in the fall and it was a really close match – and we don't know too much about DePaul, but (head coach) Mark Ardizzone always has a good team. We're excited about it."
The 2016 Thunderbird Invitational ended with senior Kassidy Jump capturing the singles title, while the doubles team of freshman Savannah Slaysman and newcomer Kelley Anderson went undefeated in their three matches.
In the Thunderbird Championship final, Jump had to defeat her doubles partner – sophomore Sammi Hampton – who opens up the season with the highest singles ranking on the team at No. 49.
Jump's championship victory earned her the No. 63 preseason ranking in singles, while Slaysman and Anderson opened up at No. 36 in doubles.
"The end of the fall was good," said McInerney. "There are a lot of new parts with three new players and losing two All-Americans, but the kids have assimilated well. The biggest obstacle for us was having 44 days between Thanksgiving and the first practice, but the kids came back in good shape. We've had a solid week of practice. We'll be match rusty like the other teams, but Monday we'll be back in the flow of it heading into our first dual match at home next week."
ASU will open up the tournament with singles at 10 a.m. CT against Tennessee, followed by doubles at 1 p.m. CT against DePaul on Saturday. Sunday will feature doubles at 1 p.m. CT against Tennessee followed by singles against Michigan. Monday includes singles at 10 a.m. CT against DePaul followed by doubles versus Michigan at 1 p.m.
Coach McInerney wants to see one thing this weekend from her team more than anything else.
"I just want the girls to be really team oriented. Cheer each other on and get into that regular season mindset."
The scoring system will be as follows:
Win at No. 1 position -- 8 points
Win at No. 2 position -- 7 points
Win at No. 3 position -- 6 points
Win at No. 4 position -- 5 points
Win at No. 5 position -- 4 points
Win at No. 6 position -- 3 points
Win at No. 7 position -- 2 points
Win at No. 8 position -- 1 point
For the second consecutive year, the NCAA will use no-ad scoring in both doubles and singles action. This weekend's tournament will feature doubles matches to six, with a tiebreaker occurring at 6-all. Singles matches will be best two-of-three, with players playing a full third set.
Live scoring and information can be found on Michigan's website here.