TEMPE, Ariz – The Sun Devil women's tennis team opened up its final homestand on a high note, grabbing a 4-2 victory over the Washington State Cougars on Friday afternoon at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"We knew it would be a tough match and it was," coach Sheila McInerney said. "In doubles, we could have won at two, but we fell on the short end of it, but credit our team for coming back from that."
Courts one and three got off to quick starts, with the Cougars taking the advantage early on with a 6-1 win on three. The pair of Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh evened the advantage with a 6-4 victory, their second-straight win as a tandem and 13th on the season, continuing their unbeaten streak.
The doubles point came down to a back-and-fourth affair on court two, with Savannah Slaysman and Tereza Kolarova battling it out against Guzal Yusupova and Tiffany Mylonas of Washington State.
The match came to a 4-4 tie toward the end, but the Cougars took a set to pull out to a 5-4 advantage. Down but not out, the Devils duo knotted things up at 5-5, but came out on the wrong side of a 40-40 tie to send things into a potential match-clinching set, down 5-6. Washington State ended up outlasting the tandem 7-5 to clinch the doubles point.
In singles play, John-Baptiste dropped her match on court one 6-4, 6-1 to give Washington State a 2-0 lead. Teammate Savannah Slaysman halted the Cougars' streak with a victory on court four, 6-4 6-4, securing a two-match win streak in singles play for the Phoenix-native.
"Their No. 1 player is really good," McInerney said. "We knew Lauryn would have her hands full there, so we needed everyone else to come through and they did for us."
Sasa Klanecek came up big for the Devils, knotting the match up at two-apiece with a win on court five.
"We won four first sets," McInerney said. "Ilze lost her first set, but came back to be the clincher. It was a tight match, which was what we thought it would be."
The lone Sun Devil senior proved clutch next, with Nicole Fossa Huergo taking a 7-6, 7-6 victory to give ASU a 3-2 lead. With the Devils holding leads on both remaining courts, the victory came down to Hattingh and Kolarova's matches.
Hattingh stepped up to clinch the victory for the Devils, handing Washington State its second loss in conference play and just the Cougars' third overall.
ASU is back in action tomorrow afternoon for a matchup with Washington. The match, slated for a noon start, is also Kelley Anderson and Fossa Huergo's senior day.
NO. 37 WASHINGTON STATE: 2
ARIZONA STATE: 4
Doubles Results:
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles Results:
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 5, 3, 2
"We knew it would be a tough match and it was," coach Sheila McInerney said. "In doubles, we could have won at two, but we fell on the short end of it, but credit our team for coming back from that."
Courts one and three got off to quick starts, with the Cougars taking the advantage early on with a 6-1 win on three. The pair of Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh evened the advantage with a 6-4 victory, their second-straight win as a tandem and 13th on the season, continuing their unbeaten streak.
The doubles point came down to a back-and-fourth affair on court two, with Savannah Slaysman and Tereza Kolarova battling it out against Guzal Yusupova and Tiffany Mylonas of Washington State.
The match came to a 4-4 tie toward the end, but the Cougars took a set to pull out to a 5-4 advantage. Down but not out, the Devils duo knotted things up at 5-5, but came out on the wrong side of a 40-40 tie to send things into a potential match-clinching set, down 5-6. Washington State ended up outlasting the tandem 7-5 to clinch the doubles point.
In singles play, John-Baptiste dropped her match on court one 6-4, 6-1 to give Washington State a 2-0 lead. Teammate Savannah Slaysman halted the Cougars' streak with a victory on court four, 6-4 6-4, securing a two-match win streak in singles play for the Phoenix-native.
"Their No. 1 player is really good," McInerney said. "We knew Lauryn would have her hands full there, so we needed everyone else to come through and they did for us."
Sasa Klanecek came up big for the Devils, knotting the match up at two-apiece with a win on court five.
"We won four first sets," McInerney said. "Ilze lost her first set, but came back to be the clincher. It was a tight match, which was what we thought it would be."
The lone Sun Devil senior proved clutch next, with Nicole Fossa Huergo taking a 7-6, 7-6 victory to give ASU a 3-2 lead. With the Devils holding leads on both remaining courts, the victory came down to Hattingh and Kolarova's matches.
Hattingh stepped up to clinch the victory for the Devils, handing Washington State its second loss in conference play and just the Cougars' third overall.
ASU is back in action tomorrow afternoon for a matchup with Washington. The match, slated for a noon start, is also Kelley Anderson and Fossa Huergo's senior day.
NO. 37 WASHINGTON STATE: 2
ARIZONA STATE: 4
Doubles Results:
- John-Baptiste/Hattingh (ASU) def. Michalkova/Ates (WSU) | 6-4
- Yusupova/Mylonas (WSU) def. Slaysman/Kolarova (ASU) | 7-5
- Miksovska/Bayerlova (WSU) def. Fossa Huergo/Klanecek (ASU) | 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles Results:
- Michaela Bayerlova (WSU) def. Lauryn John-Baptiste (ASU) | 6-4, 6-1
- Ilze Hattingh (ASU) vs. Guzal Yusupova (WSU) | 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
- Nicole Fossa Huergo (ASU) vs. Tiffany Mylonas (WSU) | 7-6, 7-6
- Savannah Slaysman (ASU) vs. Aneta Miksovska (WSU) | 6-4, 6-4
- Sasa Klanecek (ASU) vs. Barbora Michalkova (WSU) | 7-5, 7-5
- Tereza Kolarova (ASU) vs. Melisa Ates (WSU) | 6-3, 6-7, 4-2 unf.
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 5, 3, 2