TEMPE – The Sun Devil women's tennis team welcomes two ranked programs from the Evergreen State in No. 37 Washington State and 50th-ranked Washington for the final homestand of the season, making Saturday senior day for the Devils.
"It's probably Washington State's best team they've ever had," coach Sheila McInerney said. "They've beaten USC, I think for the first time in program history, beaten Oregon, who we lost to, so we're going to have to play really well to get a favorable result."
The Cougars boast the best record in the Pac-12 with 19 wins and just two losses, seven more wins than any other Pac-12 program this season.
As for the Huskies, the Devils' senior day opponent is 12-8 with one of the toughest schedules in the nation.
"They're not ranked quite as high, but they're a little bit like us in that they've played well against some good teams," McInerney said. "They had Duke on the ropes on the road, they lost 4-3 to Illinois and Northwestern, who are both top-10 programs, so they're right on the cusp. A couple points here and there and they could be a top-20 team."
Both visiting sides are led by two of the nation's best singles players, meaning freshman No. 42 Lauryn John-Baptiste will have her hands full again on court one.
"Washington State's No. 1 was one of the best junior players in the world, and Fung is a top-player as well," McInerney said. "They don't make mistakes. They're tough outs, so Lauryn's going to have to be a little more aggressive this weekend because she's not going to get very many unforced errors from them."
Nicole Fossa Huergo is the Sun Devils' only active senior, and she will likely take to court three in her final matches at the Whiteman Tennis Center. Fossa Huergo joined the Devils in the fall of 2016 from Armstrong State and the Bologna, Italy, native has been a staple in ASU's lineup since her arrival.
"It's always emotional on senior day, and Nicole is a pretty emotional kid," McInerney said. "But it's not the last match of the season, it's not the rival in U of A, so there's still more for her to accomplish. You want it to be emotional because it means she's invested a lot into the program, but with that being said, we haven't really talked about it much because we've been focused on preparation for the matches."
The Sun Devils and Cougars tango Friday at 1:30 p.m., and the Huskies come to town Saturday for a 12 p.m. showdown with ASU.
Saturday will be senior day and also USTA Southwest Family Day.
Rankings Update
After splitting a weekend series with the Stanford and California, the Sun Devils jumped two places back into the top-40 to No. 39 in the latest Oracle/ITA ranking.
The ranking leaves them as the fifth-highest ranked Pac-12 program out of eight in the top-50.
Next weekend's opponent UCLA held firm at No. 14, last week's opponent Stanford comes in at 23, Oregon checks in at 26, Washington State is 34, Southern California is 40 and Cal and Washington are 49th and 50th, respectively.
Individually, court one freshman Lauryn John-Baptiste leads the line for the Devils as the 42nd-ranked woman in the country. She moved to 6-1 on the season against ranked opponents this past weekend in her matchups with Stanford and Cal.
Savannah Slaysman is the 123rd-ranked singles player, and in doubles, Slaysman makes up half of the No. 45 doubles tandem with freshman Tereza Kolarova.
John-Baptiste also makes up part of a ranked doubles duo, as she and Ilze Hattingh are ranked 35th in the nation and remain unbeaten heading into the final homestand of the season.
Senior Spotlight: Nicole Fossa Huergo
Sun Devil senior Nicole Fossa Huergo will play her final match at the Whiteman Tennis Center Saturday in Tempe against Washington.
Fossa Huergo, from Bologna, Italy, came the Arizona State just a year ago after transferring from Division II Armstrong State University.
In her two seasons as a Sun Devil, Fossa Huergo has put together a 27-20 singles record and 27-10 doubles record with three partners. Her best run of form came when doubled-up with former Sun Devil Alex Osborne as the two finished the season last year ranked as the 49th-best tandem in the NCAA.
In her partnership with Sasa Klanecek this season, the two have gone 8-2 and 4-1 at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
In dual-match play this season, Fossa Huergo has gone 6-3, but hasn't been able to finish her last three matches but had leads in two of them over ranked opponents from Stanford and California.
Get to Know the Cougars
Hailing from the southeastern corner of the Evergreen State, Washington State leaves the coniferous forests for the valley of the sun on a hot-streak, having won eight of its last nine with its only loss in the span coming at No. 13 UCLA.
Head coach Lisa Hart has the Cougs firing on all cylinders in her 15th season at the helm as WSU leads the Pac-12 in wins with a whopping 19 in 2018 alone. For comparison, no other program has more than 12 wins this season.
The Cougars fell three places in the ITA rankings, but remain ahead of the Sun Devils at No. 34.
With just one woman ranked in the top-150 (No. 46 Michaela Bayerlova), the Cougars have proved they can get it done on all courts and will prove to be another tough out for the Devils despite ASU's lopsided series lead of 16-1 since the turn of the century.
Get to Know the Huskies
Representing the western side of the state, Saturday's opponent, Washington, has also had a solid season so far, having recently secured a place in the Oracle/ITA team rankings at No. 50.
Two of the Huskies starting six find themselves in the top-60 individually with the higher-ranked woman, Stacey Fung, coming in at No. 21, and Vanessa Wong checking in at 58.
Head coach Robin Stephenson has UW at 12-8 this season, and while they haven't been on quite the tear as their in-state rivals, the Huskies have put together a nice resume with wins over LSU and Colorado, as well as close quality losses to Southern Cal in Los Angeles, Illinois in Champagne-Urbana and Duke in Durham.
Washington does, however, have two of the better doubles duos in the Pac-12 and in the nation in No. 24 Kobayashi/Wong and No. 80 Hance/Slavica.