TEMPE, Ariz – After a pregame ceremony honoring its two seniors, Arizona State women's tennis took a victory in its final home match, sweeping the Washington Huskies 4-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"I thought we played well and it's always an advantage playing at home," coach Sheila McInerney said. "We've only lost the one at home and it was kind of a tough one to Stanford, so I'm really happy for the girls to finish the home season like this."
The Sun Devils (13-5) got off to a slow start in doubles play, down on court one and tied on two while holding a small lead over on court three early on. Senior Nicole Fossa Huergo and Sasa Klanecek pulled out to an early 5-3 advantage, but their match would be abandoned after ASU took two victories on courts one and two to clinch the doubles point, the squad's second in the last three games.
The pair of Savannah Slaysman and Tereza Kolarova proved victorious first, battling in a back-and-forth matchup with Kenadi Hance and Alexis Prokopiuk of Washington on court two. In what seemed like a win one, lose one affair all match long, the Devils duo found themselves in a 5-5 tie late in the game. Outlasting the Huskies tandem, Slaysman/Kolarova won two-straight sets to pull a victory.
Lauryn John-Baptiste/Ilze Hattingh maintained their illustrious unbeaten streak this season in a huge way this afternoon. Down 4-2 in their match, the pair were in a rut early. With the Devils losing their lead on court three, it came down to the duo on court one to clutch things up. The women fought back to a one-point deficit, down 5-4. They staked a 6-5 lead soon after, and made quick work of the Huskies in a decisive final set to claim a 7-5 victory and a 1-0 advantage for the Sun Devils headed into singles play.
Deploying the usual starters on all six courts, ASU took first-set leads on courts two, four, five and six. Hattingh carried her huge momentum into singles play, completely dominating her match on court two with No. 58 Vanessa Wong to the tune of a 6-1, 6-0 victory that took less than an hour to capture. The win marks her seventh victory on the season and provided ASU a 2-0 lead.
The Sun Devils clinched the match with two more victories just seconds apart from each other from Slaysman and Kolarova. The latter took care of business first, gliding past Katarina Kopcalic of Washington 6-4, 6-1. Slaysman finished up minutes later to clinch a 4-0 victory for ASU, defeating Alexis Prokopiuk 6-2, 6-3.
"The doubles point was tough and we were in some battles in the singles matches, too," McInerney said. "Ilze got off the court pretty quickly, Savannah was off fast and I give a lot of credit to Tereza because it was probably her best match all season. I was really happy for her the last couple of days to seal some wins."
The victory marked the last home match for the Sun Devils this season, clinching a 10-1 record in Tempe in 2018. Their 10 wins is also the most wins at Whiteman since the 2015-16 season when they notched 12.
Next up on the tap, the Sun Devils hit the road to the Los Angeles schools next weekend. The match on Friday against UCLA is slated for a 1:30 p.m. MST first serve, with Saturday's matchup with USC set for a noon start time.
"I thought we played well and it's always an advantage playing at home," coach Sheila McInerney said. "We've only lost the one at home and it was kind of a tough one to Stanford, so I'm really happy for the girls to finish the home season like this."
Thank you, seniors! pic.twitter.com/Ua2UrIY2BI
— Sun Devil W. Tennis (@sundevilwtennis) April 7, 2018
The Sun Devils (13-5) got off to a slow start in doubles play, down on court one and tied on two while holding a small lead over on court three early on. Senior Nicole Fossa Huergo and Sasa Klanecek pulled out to an early 5-3 advantage, but their match would be abandoned after ASU took two victories on courts one and two to clinch the doubles point, the squad's second in the last three games.
The pair of Savannah Slaysman and Tereza Kolarova proved victorious first, battling in a back-and-forth matchup with Kenadi Hance and Alexis Prokopiuk of Washington on court two. In what seemed like a win one, lose one affair all match long, the Devils duo found themselves in a 5-5 tie late in the game. Outlasting the Huskies tandem, Slaysman/Kolarova won two-straight sets to pull a victory.
Lauryn John-Baptiste/Ilze Hattingh maintained their illustrious unbeaten streak this season in a huge way this afternoon. Down 4-2 in their match, the pair were in a rut early. With the Devils losing their lead on court three, it came down to the duo on court one to clutch things up. The women fought back to a one-point deficit, down 5-4. They staked a 6-5 lead soon after, and made quick work of the Huskies in a decisive final set to claim a 7-5 victory and a 1-0 advantage for the Sun Devils headed into singles play.
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— Sun Devil W. Tennis (@sundevilwtennis) April 7, 2018
Down 4-2 on court one? That's nothing for John-Baptiste/Hattingh. They take a 6-5 lead!
1?: 6-5 ??
2?: 6-5 ??
3?: 6-5 ?? pic.twitter.com/iB4lbsYKI4
Deploying the usual starters on all six courts, ASU took first-set leads on courts two, four, five and six. Hattingh carried her huge momentum into singles play, completely dominating her match on court two with No. 58 Vanessa Wong to the tune of a 6-1, 6-0 victory that took less than an hour to capture. The win marks her seventh victory on the season and provided ASU a 2-0 lead.
The Sun Devils clinched the match with two more victories just seconds apart from each other from Slaysman and Kolarova. The latter took care of business first, gliding past Katarina Kopcalic of Washington 6-4, 6-1. Slaysman finished up minutes later to clinch a 4-0 victory for ASU, defeating Alexis Prokopiuk 6-2, 6-3.
DEVILS WIN, DEVILS IN ??????@savslaysman and Kolarova notch victories just seconds apart to clinch a 4-0 sweep of the Huskies! pic.twitter.com/A26W5fB4nh
— Sun Devil W. Tennis (@sundevilwtennis) April 7, 2018
"The doubles point was tough and we were in some battles in the singles matches, too," McInerney said. "Ilze got off the court pretty quickly, Savannah was off fast and I give a lot of credit to Tereza because it was probably her best match all season. I was really happy for her the last couple of days to seal some wins."
The victory marked the last home match for the Sun Devils this season, clinching a 10-1 record in Tempe in 2018. Their 10 wins is also the most wins at Whiteman since the 2015-16 season when they notched 12.
Next up on the tap, the Sun Devils hit the road to the Los Angeles schools next weekend. The match on Friday against UCLA is slated for a 1:30 p.m. MST first serve, with Saturday's matchup with USC set for a noon start time.