TEMPE – The beginning of conference play sends the No. 34 Sun Devils on the road to Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boulder, Colorado, to take on a pair of familiar opponents in the Utes and Buffaloes.
Both universities boast the two highest altitudes in the Pac-12, making the expedition into the American Great Basin and up into the Rockies a unique challenge for the desert-dwelling Devils.
"We're going to get up there a couple of days early because we have to get adjusted to the altitude for sure," coach Sheila McInerney said. "In tennis, we string the rackets a couple pounds tighter and the ball is sort of flying differently, so it takes a day or so to get adjusted."
Despite the literal uphill battle, ASU has been prosperous against the newest additions to the Pac-12 since they joined the conference in 2011, falling just one time to in the last 12 matchups with the two programs.
Utah has always been accompanied with Colorado in weekend series since 2012, and the Devils sole loss came in the first year against the Utes at the Whiteman Tennis Center, 5-2.
Since then, the Devils have rolled through Utah, winning five straight and have never faltered against the Buffs, even on the road.
Both matches are expected to take place indoors, meaning the Devils will have alternated between indoor and outdoor courts in each of the last three outings, which can be a tough adjustment to make.
While historically ASU has dominated the Utes and Buffs since their entry into the Pac-12, only two Devils on the active roster have faced either squad in previous years. Senior Nicole Fossa Huergo and sophomore Savannah Slaysman faced the sides last season, but neither has done so on the road.
"It'll be a fun trip," McInerney said. "We have a lot of new kids who have never been. Matt does a good job, so Utah will be a tough opponent. We had a tough time up there last time. We beat them, but it was a good match."
In last season's meetings, Fossa Huergo won her two matches on court three and clinched the doubles point with then partner Kassidy Jump on both occasions, while Slaysman's two singles matches were abandoned as the Devils had already clinched both matches before she could finish.
The Pac-12 opener in SLC gets going Friday at 1:30 p.m. MST at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. As clocks everywhere else across the country jump ahead an hour, the Colorado match will get started at 10 a.m. PT on Sunday in Boulder depending on weather.
"Obviously conference wins are important, but frankly every win is important whether it's conference or not, and that's the way we look at it," McInerney said. "We came back and played pretty well against San Diego State and Santa Barbara, but very match is a new match. Every day is sort of an adventure. We've had a good couple of days of practice, but I think the kids are ready and excited to go."
Rankings Update
After recording two sweeps over the weekend to stay perfect at home in 2018, the Sun Devils checked in at No. 34 in the latest ITA/Oracle Ranking, down a spot from a week ago after some perennial powerhouses started to hit their strides.
Coming in behind only No. 13 UCLA, No. 22 Oregon and No. 33 Washington, the Devils are the fourth-highest ranked Pac-12 program and currently sit at sixth in the conference standings.
Just behind the Devils are defending conference champion Stanford (46), Southern Cal (47) and current conference leader Washington State (50).
In singles play the Devils' court-one specialist true freshman Lauryn John-Baptiste moved up a place to No. 83 after recording two more singles wins and improving to 6-2 on the season.
Savannah Slaysman slotted in at No. 115 and senior Kelley Anderson debuted at No. 107, despite not lacing up for the Devils at all in 2018.
Anderson also found herself in the doubles ranking with Nicole Fossa Huergo at No. 58, and Slaysman/Kolarova earned the No. 37 rank.
John-Baptiste Honored by Pac-12
For her perfect weekend at home against San Diego State and UC Santa Barbara, true freshman Lauryn John-Baptiste was named as the Pac-12 Women's Player of the Week.
John-Baptiste went 2-0 on court one, recording two sweeps of her opponents and even clinching the match win against the Gauchos Saturday.
She is currently ranked No. 83 in the nation in singles and owns a 6-2 record solo, but her best results have been in doubles play where she and fellow newcomer Ilze Hattingh are unbeaten on court two this season.
While her four wins over ranked singles opponents have been important to the Devils' success this year, John-Baptiste/Hattingh's combination on court two has proven to be crucial as they have helped ASU take the doubles point in nine out of its 10 dual matches.
The Sun Devil Six
Coming into the season, coach Sheila McInerney had a roster of eight, but after a couple of key injuries, the Sun Devils have been down to six for the spring season.
Of the six women taking the court for ASU, four of them are newcomers to the squad and only one is a senior in Nicole Fossa Huergo.
True freshmen Sasa Klanecek and Lauryn John-Baptiste have been the most successful of the six this season, compiling a combined dual-match record of 14-2, with Klanecek recording a perfect record through 10 matches.
John-Baptiste has been playing on courts one and two in 2018 and has won all four of her matchups this year against ranked opponents.
Sophomore newcomer Ilze Hattingh is a part of a doubles tandem with John-Baptiste that hasn't dropped a match this season, and has helped the Sun Devils win nine doubles points in their 10 matches.
One of the two active returners, Savannah Slaysman, got off to a slow start, but has since won six matches playing on courts four and five, interchanging with freshman Tereza Kolarova.
Despite having a thin squad, the Devils have won seven of 10, and took Nos. 11 and 19 Ohio State and Oklahoma State to the wire on the road, and are unbeaten at the Whiteman Tennis Center in 2018.
Get to know the Utes
Led by 11-year head coach Mat Iandolo, Utah opens Pac-12 play with a 7-4 record after they recorded wins over Minnesota, Boise State and in-state rivals Utah State and Weber State, among others.
Although they opened the 2018 campaign 6-1, the Utes enter the weekend fresh off a 4-2 defeat against New Mexico, and have dropped three of their last four.
While Iandolo's team doesn't have any players ranked in doubles or singles, his squad boasts the reigning ITA Mountain Region's Most Improved Player in Alexia Petrovic, and an all-conference honoree in Margo Pletcher, proving that rankings don't necessarily mean everything.
The win over Boise matches what the Buffs accomplished, as both squads beat the Broncos 4-3. Against New Mexico, however, Utah dropped the match, while Colorado upended them 5-2.
Get to know the Buffs
The Colorado Buffaloes are off to one of their best starts in school history under 19-year coach Nicole Kenneally at 7-2 and sitting at third in the conference.
Kenneally's squad has recorded wins over in-state rivals Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Air Force, and has only fallen twice to two schools from the border state of Kansas in Wichita State and K-State on back-to-back weekends.
Similar to ASU, the Buffs are led by a freshman on court one in Linda Huang, who comes into the weekend ranked 113 in singles.
In terms of common opponents, the Buffs haven't faced a team the Devils have also played, but CU defeated New Mexico last weekend in Albuquerque, two days after the Lobos beat Utah.