TEMPE – Fresh off a weekend of competition in Lubbock, Texas, the Sun Devil women's tennis team returns to the Lone Star State for a tournament in Fort Worth hosted by the Horned Frogs.
The Big Five Challenge will feature student-athletes from eight of the NCAA's top-programs including seven teams that earned top-50 rankings in the final ITA poll of 2017 in No. 34 ASU, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Texas Tech, 11th-ranked Michigan, No. 15 South Carolina, host and 28th-ranked TCU and No. 41 Virginia.
"We're excited," coach Sheila McInerney said. "It's the first time they've had it and we have eight really good teams, including ourselves, going at it. I think the competition speaks for itself. Four of those teams advanced to the Sweet 16. It's going to be a great tournament."
ASU gets its weekend started Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. MT, then plays again at 4:30 p.m., and the Devils will run out six women for the singles section and three doubles groups against opponents from Georgia and Virginia Tech.
"Georgia is a perennial power," McInerney said. "They've won two national titles and last year they were an Elite Eight team. They've got a lot of kids returning and they've got some really top-of-the-line freshmen. We're looking forward to it."
Saturday begins bright and early for the Sun Devil women. Their matchups are the first of the day at 7 a.m. MT.
Three Sun Devils already made their fall debuts last weekend in freshmen Tereza Kolarova and Lauryn John-Baptiste, and senior Nicole Fossa Huergo.
All three women advanced to the final qualifying round of the Lubbock $25,000 Invitational, and Lauryn John-Baptiste played in the first round of the main draw, but stumbled against Texas Tech's Sabrina Federici in the round of 32. Federici outdueled Fossa Huergo in the final round of qualifying in three sets.
Kolarova, Fossa Huergo and John-Baptiste will all return to the court in Fort Worth and will be joined by three other Sun Devils in Savannah Slaysman, Saša Klanecek and senior Kelley Anderson.
Anderson (No. 67) was the lone Sun Devil ranked in the ITA's preseason top-125. The tournament this weekend will be a homecoming for Anderson, the Roanoke, Texas, native and Southlake Carroll graduate. Roanoke is a 30-minute drive north of the TCU campus.
Slaysman ended her freshman season on a hot-streak for the Sun Devils, defeating six-straight opponents and five in straight sets. She was 2-1 against ranked opponents in singles play and recorded only two losses in Pac-12 play.
As a doubles pairing a season ago, Anderson and Slaysman recorded the second-best record on the team with 18 wins.
Klanecek will make her Sun Devil debut on the purple Bartzen Varsity Courts.
The freshman from Slovenia has been ranked as high as 947 in the WTA singles ranking and represented her home country in the Junior Fed Cup.
"This is kind of the first college event of the fall with no-advantage scoring and the set of doubles, so it's kind of a different format than what our three freshmen are used to, but it'll be really good for them to get their feet wet right off the bat against good teams," McInerney said. "By the end of the weekend, it'll tell us a lot, which is good."
Saturday's Sun Devil matches will be streamed live on Playsight, but a complete recap will be available on thesundevils.com after each day of competition.
The Big Five Challenge will feature student-athletes from eight of the NCAA's top-programs including seven teams that earned top-50 rankings in the final ITA poll of 2017 in No. 34 ASU, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Texas Tech, 11th-ranked Michigan, No. 15 South Carolina, host and 28th-ranked TCU and No. 41 Virginia.
"We're excited," coach Sheila McInerney said. "It's the first time they've had it and we have eight really good teams, including ourselves, going at it. I think the competition speaks for itself. Four of those teams advanced to the Sweet 16. It's going to be a great tournament."
ASU gets its weekend started Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. MT, then plays again at 4:30 p.m., and the Devils will run out six women for the singles section and three doubles groups against opponents from Georgia and Virginia Tech.
"Georgia is a perennial power," McInerney said. "They've won two national titles and last year they were an Elite Eight team. They've got a lot of kids returning and they've got some really top-of-the-line freshmen. We're looking forward to it."
Saturday begins bright and early for the Sun Devil women. Their matchups are the first of the day at 7 a.m. MT.
Three Sun Devils already made their fall debuts last weekend in freshmen Tereza Kolarova and Lauryn John-Baptiste, and senior Nicole Fossa Huergo.
All three women advanced to the final qualifying round of the Lubbock $25,000 Invitational, and Lauryn John-Baptiste played in the first round of the main draw, but stumbled against Texas Tech's Sabrina Federici in the round of 32. Federici outdueled Fossa Huergo in the final round of qualifying in three sets.
Kolarova, Fossa Huergo and John-Baptiste will all return to the court in Fort Worth and will be joined by three other Sun Devils in Savannah Slaysman, Saša Klanecek and senior Kelley Anderson.
Anderson (No. 67) was the lone Sun Devil ranked in the ITA's preseason top-125. The tournament this weekend will be a homecoming for Anderson, the Roanoke, Texas, native and Southlake Carroll graduate. Roanoke is a 30-minute drive north of the TCU campus.
Slaysman ended her freshman season on a hot-streak for the Sun Devils, defeating six-straight opponents and five in straight sets. She was 2-1 against ranked opponents in singles play and recorded only two losses in Pac-12 play.
As a doubles pairing a season ago, Anderson and Slaysman recorded the second-best record on the team with 18 wins.
Klanecek will make her Sun Devil debut on the purple Bartzen Varsity Courts.
The freshman from Slovenia has been ranked as high as 947 in the WTA singles ranking and represented her home country in the Junior Fed Cup.
"This is kind of the first college event of the fall with no-advantage scoring and the set of doubles, so it's kind of a different format than what our three freshmen are used to, but it'll be really good for them to get their feet wet right off the bat against good teams," McInerney said. "By the end of the weekend, it'll tell us a lot, which is good."
Saturday's Sun Devil matches will be streamed live on Playsight, but a complete recap will be available on thesundevils.com after each day of competition.