TEMPE – The Arizona State Sun Devil women's tennis team returns to Tempe after a tough road trip to host two Bay Area foes in No. 28 Stanford and California Friday and Saturday at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"I think it's an exciting weekend," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Stanford and Cal are two of the best teams in the country. It's fun for the kids to get the opportunity to play against the good teams, and we're going to go out and enjoy it and look to play well."
The Devils (10-4, 2-1) enter the Pac-12 showdowns looking to right the ship after having their five-match win-streak snapped while playing with just five women in Eugene last weekend. Their first opponent will be the 28th-ranked Cardinal.
"It's been a weird year in the Pac-12," McInerney said. "Stanford certainly is under-ranked because they haven't played a lot of matches and one of their better players has been hurt most of the year. Having said that, they're formidable, they're perennial contenders, 18-time national champs, Stanford is always going to be a tough out."
This weekend, ASU should be back to full-strength on all six singles courts and the three doubles courts with the return of Sasa Klanecek to the lineup. The true freshman has been a consistent cog in the Sun Devils' success this season, notching nine solo wins in dual match play so far this season.
While Klanecek has the best win-percentage on the squad, ASU's two ranked members are decimal points away from each other for second-best with No. 108 Savannah Slaysman boasting a 9-2 record, and No. 56 Lauryn John-Baptiste tallying eight wins with just two losses.
John-Baptiste's unbeaten record against ranked women in 2018 will be put to the test once again this weekend as the Cardinal and the Golden Bears both have four ranked options for court one.
The Devils have struggled against the NoCal rivals in the past, but took down the 20th-ranked Cardinal last time they came to Tempe in a thrilling 4-3 match for their second win over the West Coast giants in series history. ASU's last win over Cal also came at home back in 2011.
Berkeley's Bears have won their last two and will play Arizona in Tucson Friday afternoon, and the Cardinal have won four straight coming into the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"Cal's had some players out this year, but them not being ranked it sort of an aberration because they're getting healthy now and they've competed really well against everyone," McInerney said.
Friday's match is set for 1:30 p.m. PT, and things get started Saturday at noon.
Both matches will be available to watch on ASU Live Stream 2 and live results will be available on asu.statbroadcast.com. For match day updates, follow @sundevilwtennis on Twitter.
Rankings Update
The Sun Devil women's tennis team checked in at No. 41 this week following a visit to Eugene over the weekend.
Falling six spots after the loss, ASU is the fifth-highest ranked Pac-12 program.
No. 14 UCLA still leads the way for the conference and Oregon at No. 22 is the only other program in the top-25.
This weekend's opponent, Stanford, checks in at No. 28, Washington State jumped seven places to 31, USC took 39 and Washington fell two places to 49.
After defeating the, at the time, 30th-ranked woman in the NCAA from Loyola Marymount two weekends back, Lauryn John-Baptiste soared 30 places to No. 56 in the latest singles rankings. Savannah Slaysman also improved her ranking to 108, where they remain.
In doubles, the reassembled team of Kolarova/Slaysman checked in at No. 35, and unbeaten duo John-Baptiste/Hattingh jumped back into the rankings to 48 after they took down a ranked duo in their first outing on court one.
Get to Know the Cardinal
Stanford head coach Lele Forood has the Cardinal firing on all cylinders again in 2018, and despite the No. 28 ranking, the Palo Alto powerhouse still has quite the resume.
Although Stanford has fallen three times this season in dual-match play, those three losses have come on the road at No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Texas, and at home against No. 12 Florida. Outside of those three slip-ups Stanford and their four-ranked singles players and No. 3 ranked doubles duo have been just as impressive as they were last year when they won the Pac-12 for the second-straight season.
Against similar opponents Stanford beat TCU 4-0, UNLV 6-1 and Utah 4-0, while ASU defeated the Horned Frogs 4-1 in a neutral setting, beat UNLV 4-2 and handled the Utes 4-1 in Salt Lake City.
ASU last defeated the Cardinal in 2016. That was the last time Stanford visited the Whiteman Tennis Center.
Get to Know the Golden Bears
Although unranked in the latest Oracle/ITA poll, the Cal Golden Bears have one of the deepest rosters in the conference and in the country with four women ranked in singles and two ranked doubles teams.
Head coach Amanda Augustus has led Cal to a 7-5 record with wins over Southern California in Los Angeles and UC Santa Barbara at home.
The Golden Bears can attribute six of their wins this season to opponents ASU has also defeated including UNLV, San Diego State, Santa Clara, Utah, Colorado and the aforementioned UCSB. The only win Cal doesn't share with the Devils is their victory over the Trojans.
The Bears have won six-straight against ASU and three-straight in Tempe.
Fearsome Sixsome
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 17-3, with Klanecek recording a perfect record through her 10 matches, until a loss to Colorado.
John-Baptiste has been playing on courts one and two in 2018 and has won all five 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 10 doubles points in their 13 matches.
One of the two active returners, Savannah Slaysman, got off to a slow start, but has since won six of her last 10 and losing only twice in that span.
Despite having a thin squad, the Devils have won 10 of 13 and sit near the top of the Pac-12 standings after the first two weeks of conference play. They took Nos. 11 and 19 Ohio State and Oklahoma State to the wire on the road, and remain unbeaten at the Whiteman Tennis Center in 2018.
"I think it's an exciting weekend," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Stanford and Cal are two of the best teams in the country. It's fun for the kids to get the opportunity to play against the good teams, and we're going to go out and enjoy it and look to play well."
The Devils (10-4, 2-1) enter the Pac-12 showdowns looking to right the ship after having their five-match win-streak snapped while playing with just five women in Eugene last weekend. Their first opponent will be the 28th-ranked Cardinal.
"It's been a weird year in the Pac-12," McInerney said. "Stanford certainly is under-ranked because they haven't played a lot of matches and one of their better players has been hurt most of the year. Having said that, they're formidable, they're perennial contenders, 18-time national champs, Stanford is always going to be a tough out."
This weekend, ASU should be back to full-strength on all six singles courts and the three doubles courts with the return of Sasa Klanecek to the lineup. The true freshman has been a consistent cog in the Sun Devils' success this season, notching nine solo wins in dual match play so far this season.
While Klanecek has the best win-percentage on the squad, ASU's two ranked members are decimal points away from each other for second-best with No. 108 Savannah Slaysman boasting a 9-2 record, and No. 56 Lauryn John-Baptiste tallying eight wins with just two losses.
John-Baptiste's unbeaten record against ranked women in 2018 will be put to the test once again this weekend as the Cardinal and the Golden Bears both have four ranked options for court one.
The Devils have struggled against the NoCal rivals in the past, but took down the 20th-ranked Cardinal last time they came to Tempe in a thrilling 4-3 match for their second win over the West Coast giants in series history. ASU's last win over Cal also came at home back in 2011.
Berkeley's Bears have won their last two and will play Arizona in Tucson Friday afternoon, and the Cardinal have won four straight coming into the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"Cal's had some players out this year, but them not being ranked it sort of an aberration because they're getting healthy now and they've competed really well against everyone," McInerney said.
Friday's match is set for 1:30 p.m. PT, and things get started Saturday at noon.
Both matches will be available to watch on ASU Live Stream 2 and live results will be available on asu.statbroadcast.com. For match day updates, follow @sundevilwtennis on Twitter.
Rankings Update
The Sun Devil women's tennis team checked in at No. 41 this week following a visit to Eugene over the weekend.
Falling six spots after the loss, ASU is the fifth-highest ranked Pac-12 program.
No. 14 UCLA still leads the way for the conference and Oregon at No. 22 is the only other program in the top-25.
This weekend's opponent, Stanford, checks in at No. 28, Washington State jumped seven places to 31, USC took 39 and Washington fell two places to 49.
After defeating the, at the time, 30th-ranked woman in the NCAA from Loyola Marymount two weekends back, Lauryn John-Baptiste soared 30 places to No. 56 in the latest singles rankings. Savannah Slaysman also improved her ranking to 108, where they remain.
In doubles, the reassembled team of Kolarova/Slaysman checked in at No. 35, and unbeaten duo John-Baptiste/Hattingh jumped back into the rankings to 48 after they took down a ranked duo in their first outing on court one.
Get to Know the Cardinal
Stanford head coach Lele Forood has the Cardinal firing on all cylinders again in 2018, and despite the No. 28 ranking, the Palo Alto powerhouse still has quite the resume.
Although Stanford has fallen three times this season in dual-match play, those three losses have come on the road at No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Texas, and at home against No. 12 Florida. Outside of those three slip-ups Stanford and their four-ranked singles players and No. 3 ranked doubles duo have been just as impressive as they were last year when they won the Pac-12 for the second-straight season.
Against similar opponents Stanford beat TCU 4-0, UNLV 6-1 and Utah 4-0, while ASU defeated the Horned Frogs 4-1 in a neutral setting, beat UNLV 4-2 and handled the Utes 4-1 in Salt Lake City.
ASU last defeated the Cardinal in 2016. That was the last time Stanford visited the Whiteman Tennis Center.
Get to Know the Golden Bears
Although unranked in the latest Oracle/ITA poll, the Cal Golden Bears have one of the deepest rosters in the conference and in the country with four women ranked in singles and two ranked doubles teams.
Head coach Amanda Augustus has led Cal to a 7-5 record with wins over Southern California in Los Angeles and UC Santa Barbara at home.
The Golden Bears can attribute six of their wins this season to opponents ASU has also defeated including UNLV, San Diego State, Santa Clara, Utah, Colorado and the aforementioned UCSB. The only win Cal doesn't share with the Devils is their victory over the Trojans.
The Bears have won six-straight against ASU and three-straight in Tempe.
Fearsome Sixsome
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 17-3, with Klanecek recording a perfect record through her 10 matches, until a loss to Colorado.
John-Baptiste has been playing on courts one and two in 2018 and has won all five 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 10 doubles points in their 13 matches.
One of the two active returners, Savannah Slaysman, got off to a slow start, but has since won six of her last 10 and losing only twice in that span.
Despite having a thin squad, the Devils have won 10 of 13 and sit near the top of the Pac-12 standings after the first two weeks of conference play. They took Nos. 11 and 19 Ohio State and Oklahoma State to the wire on the road, and remain unbeaten at the Whiteman Tennis Center in 2018.