MATCH NOTES | LIVE STATS
TEMPE – Arizona State will welcome UNLV for the second straight season, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs to the Whiteman Tennis Center for the first time this weekend, looking to continue a solid start to the 2018 campaign.
"It's nice to be back at home and I think both teams are going to give us a really good challenge," coach Sheila McInerney said. "UNLV was ranked pretty high last year and they played a good match against us here. They've got three starters from last year back and they did quite well at the kickoff in Berkley beating Mississippi State and had a close loss to a good Cal team."
The Devils have had a successful run against the Rebels in their history, winning all 19 of the matchups and five since 2000. The last time UNLV came to Tempe, the Sun Devils dropped just one match on their way to a 6-1 dual match win last March.
"Gonzaga went up to Michigan and played tough," McInerney said. "They got a singles win and two of the other games went to three sets so they certainly played Michigan about as tough as we did. We're expecting some challenging matches."
The Bulldogs will play UNLV Saturday in Tempe before their first ever matchup with the Devils Sunday morning.
Last season, the Zags rolled through the WCC with a 7-2 record and fell in the final to No. 11 Pepperdine, but put two individuals and a doubles pairing on the al-WCC team.
Not to be outshined, head coach Kevin Cory's Rebs managed to also make a run to the final in their conference tournament before being stopped by the Spartans of San Jose State.
Once again, the Devils will likely be led by sophomore Ilze Hattingh on court one, who has battled her fair share of elite talent already in this young season.
"There's very little difference between our one and our six, we're a really solid, even team," McInerney said. "But I think Ilze has a little more experience than some of the others because she's played a lot internationally. We can flip the lineup around a little bit and we'll see how the season plays out."
Although Hattingh is 1-4 on the season, three of her four defeats have come against women ranked in the top-35 nationally, and her loss to No. 89 Ida Jarlskog nearly went to a third-set tiebreak.
Rankings Update
A split in Stillwater against No. 18 Oklahoma State and RV TCU helped the Sun Devils jump two spots in the latest Oracle/ITA ranking to No. 20.
Over in the first USTA poll of the season, Arizona State debuted at No. 22, but was still the fourth-highest ranked team in the Pac-12.
The agreed No. 1 team in the nation, Stanford, leads the Pac-12, while UCLA and Cal slot in at Nos. 13 and 14, respectively. Washington debuted in the poll for the first time this season at No. 24.
The first individual and doubles rankings of 2018 will be released next month, and the Devils currently have one active representative on the list in No. 83 Savannah Slaysman, but she isn't expected to be the only one for long after a blazing start to the season from freshmen Lauryn John-Baptiste (5-1) and Sasa Klanecek (4-2).
Three of John-Baptiste's wins this season have been against ranked opponents, including a No. 23 Felicity Maltby of Texas Tech.
The Road to 500
Sun Devil head coach and American tennis legend Sheila McInerney has been the epitome of consistency and success, having made 30-straight NCAA tournaments, all while at ASU.
She is the joint-longest tenured coach in school history, and is closing in on yet another career milestone with the Sun Devils: 500 career wins.
The stellar record can be attributed to a consistent run of 12-straight seasons with records above .500, and only two losing seasons since she was handed the reigns in 1985.
McInerney entered 2018 with 495 dual match wins, winning 63 percent of her matches since 1985, and moved to 497, including a win over No. 24 TCU. She is currently sixth on the list for most wins by a coach in ASU history, and 14 wins away from the top-five.
Fantastic Freshmen
The 2018 version of the Sun Devils is a young one with three freshmen expected to play pivotal roles in ASU's success this season, and so far they have stepped up to the challenge.
Lauryn John-Baptiste has led the way for the freshman group, getting off to a hot start to singles play by rolling through the Michigan Invitational and scoring three wins over ranked opponents so far.
Slovenia's Sasa Klanecek dropped her first two matches of the season, but has won her last four and has two doubles wins on the season with senior Nicole Fossa Huergo.
Although the duo of freshman Tereza Kolarova and Savannah Slaysman fell in the squad's dual match opener, ASU's No. 28 doubles duo already has a win this season over another top-25 opponent from the Michigan Invitational in early January.
Kolarova also recorded the first singles point of the season for the Sun Devils against Northern Arizona as she took care of her opponent on court five 6-0, 6-1, and has since picked up one more win and nearly swept Marie Norris of TCU before the match was declared unfinished.
Get to Know the Zags
The 2018 Gonzaga Bulldog women's tennis team is led by 14-year head coach D.J. Gurule, and came into the year after one of the greatest seasons in school history that ended with a runner-up finish in the WCC Championships.
This season, the Zags have wins over Montana State and Brown, and fell to No. 10 Michigan at Michigan in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Get to Know the Rebs
It's a short drive across one time zone for the Rebels from the bright lights of Las Vegas to Tempe, so for the second time in as many seasons, head coach Kevin Cory is bringing his Rebels to The Valley to square off.
The Rebs return three starters from a season ago that saw them make a run to the MWC title match and finish 18-8 overall.
They only dropped four matches from beginning of March until the end of April last year, including a defeat to Arizona State, and they come into this year's matchup at 3-1 with their only loss on the year coming at the hands of No. 11 Cal in Berkley, 4-3.
TEMPE – Arizona State will welcome UNLV for the second straight season, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs to the Whiteman Tennis Center for the first time this weekend, looking to continue a solid start to the 2018 campaign.
"It's nice to be back at home and I think both teams are going to give us a really good challenge," coach Sheila McInerney said. "UNLV was ranked pretty high last year and they played a good match against us here. They've got three starters from last year back and they did quite well at the kickoff in Berkley beating Mississippi State and had a close loss to a good Cal team."
The Devils have had a successful run against the Rebels in their history, winning all 19 of the matchups and five since 2000. The last time UNLV came to Tempe, the Sun Devils dropped just one match on their way to a 6-1 dual match win last March.
"Gonzaga went up to Michigan and played tough," McInerney said. "They got a singles win and two of the other games went to three sets so they certainly played Michigan about as tough as we did. We're expecting some challenging matches."
The Bulldogs will play UNLV Saturday in Tempe before their first ever matchup with the Devils Sunday morning.
Last season, the Zags rolled through the WCC with a 7-2 record and fell in the final to No. 11 Pepperdine, but put two individuals and a doubles pairing on the al-WCC team.
Not to be outshined, head coach Kevin Cory's Rebs managed to also make a run to the final in their conference tournament before being stopped by the Spartans of San Jose State.
Once again, the Devils will likely be led by sophomore Ilze Hattingh on court one, who has battled her fair share of elite talent already in this young season.
"There's very little difference between our one and our six, we're a really solid, even team," McInerney said. "But I think Ilze has a little more experience than some of the others because she's played a lot internationally. We can flip the lineup around a little bit and we'll see how the season plays out."
Although Hattingh is 1-4 on the season, three of her four defeats have come against women ranked in the top-35 nationally, and her loss to No. 89 Ida Jarlskog nearly went to a third-set tiebreak.
Rankings Update
A split in Stillwater against No. 18 Oklahoma State and RV TCU helped the Sun Devils jump two spots in the latest Oracle/ITA ranking to No. 20.
Over in the first USTA poll of the season, Arizona State debuted at No. 22, but was still the fourth-highest ranked team in the Pac-12.
The agreed No. 1 team in the nation, Stanford, leads the Pac-12, while UCLA and Cal slot in at Nos. 13 and 14, respectively. Washington debuted in the poll for the first time this season at No. 24.
The first individual and doubles rankings of 2018 will be released next month, and the Devils currently have one active representative on the list in No. 83 Savannah Slaysman, but she isn't expected to be the only one for long after a blazing start to the season from freshmen Lauryn John-Baptiste (5-1) and Sasa Klanecek (4-2).
Three of John-Baptiste's wins this season have been against ranked opponents, including a No. 23 Felicity Maltby of Texas Tech.
The Road to 500
Sun Devil head coach and American tennis legend Sheila McInerney has been the epitome of consistency and success, having made 30-straight NCAA tournaments, all while at ASU.
She is the joint-longest tenured coach in school history, and is closing in on yet another career milestone with the Sun Devils: 500 career wins.
The stellar record can be attributed to a consistent run of 12-straight seasons with records above .500, and only two losing seasons since she was handed the reigns in 1985.
McInerney entered 2018 with 495 dual match wins, winning 63 percent of her matches since 1985, and moved to 497, including a win over No. 24 TCU. She is currently sixth on the list for most wins by a coach in ASU history, and 14 wins away from the top-five.
Fantastic Freshmen
The 2018 version of the Sun Devils is a young one with three freshmen expected to play pivotal roles in ASU's success this season, and so far they have stepped up to the challenge.
Lauryn John-Baptiste has led the way for the freshman group, getting off to a hot start to singles play by rolling through the Michigan Invitational and scoring three wins over ranked opponents so far.
Slovenia's Sasa Klanecek dropped her first two matches of the season, but has won her last four and has two doubles wins on the season with senior Nicole Fossa Huergo.
Although the duo of freshman Tereza Kolarova and Savannah Slaysman fell in the squad's dual match opener, ASU's No. 28 doubles duo already has a win this season over another top-25 opponent from the Michigan Invitational in early January.
Kolarova also recorded the first singles point of the season for the Sun Devils against Northern Arizona as she took care of her opponent on court five 6-0, 6-1, and has since picked up one more win and nearly swept Marie Norris of TCU before the match was declared unfinished.
Get to Know the Zags
The 2018 Gonzaga Bulldog women's tennis team is led by 14-year head coach D.J. Gurule, and came into the year after one of the greatest seasons in school history that ended with a runner-up finish in the WCC Championships.
This season, the Zags have wins over Montana State and Brown, and fell to No. 10 Michigan at Michigan in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Get to Know the Rebs
It's a short drive across one time zone for the Rebels from the bright lights of Las Vegas to Tempe, so for the second time in as many seasons, head coach Kevin Cory is bringing his Rebels to The Valley to square off.
The Rebs return three starters from a season ago that saw them make a run to the MWC title match and finish 18-8 overall.
They only dropped four matches from beginning of March until the end of April last year, including a defeat to Arizona State, and they come into this year's matchup at 3-1 with their only loss on the year coming at the hands of No. 11 Cal in Berkley, 4-3.