SURPRISE – While the Sun Devils get set to host the 24th annual Thunderbird Classic this weekend in Tempe, across the valley in Surprise, the Sun Devil duo of No. 8 Ilze Hattingh and Lauryn John-Baptiste advanced to the second round in the doubles bracket at the ITA Fall Championships Wednesday.
"It was a great win from the girls today," associate head coach Matt Langley said. "To beat the team that just won the All-American Championships shows that Lauryn and Ilze are more than capable of beating anyone in the country."
The match in Surprise wasn't exactly in favor of the Sun Devil pairing as they came up against the No. 5 overall seed from Kansas that was coming off an All-American Championships victory earlier in the fall.
Unlike regular-season doubles matches, the showdown in Surprise was a best-of-three affair that saw John-Baptiste/Hattingh battle back after getting down early in the first set.
Khmeltickaia/Koch took the first comfortably, 6-3, but the Devils bounced back to grind out a 7-5 result in the second.
It came down to a third-set tie breaker in which the All-Americans from Tempe topped the Jayhawk tandem 10-2 to win the match and advance to tomorrow's round of 16 where they'll take on Kauffman/Proctor out of the Palmetto State.
"We actually lost to the same team from Kansas at the All-American Championships, so it was nice to see us make some adjustments and get the win this time," Langley said. "I felt like we were able to capitalize on our opportunities and played aggressively during the tight moments, which was really nice to see as that is something we regularly talk about in practice".
Tomorrow's Sweet 16 matchup will also be a top-10 matchup as Winthrop's duo enters the day ranked ninth, just behind the Sun Devil tandem.
"It was a great win from the girls today," associate head coach Matt Langley said. "To beat the team that just won the All-American Championships shows that Lauryn and Ilze are more than capable of beating anyone in the country."
The match in Surprise wasn't exactly in favor of the Sun Devil pairing as they came up against the No. 5 overall seed from Kansas that was coming off an All-American Championships victory earlier in the fall.
Unlike regular-season doubles matches, the showdown in Surprise was a best-of-three affair that saw John-Baptiste/Hattingh battle back after getting down early in the first set.
Khmeltickaia/Koch took the first comfortably, 6-3, but the Devils bounced back to grind out a 7-5 result in the second.
It came down to a third-set tie breaker in which the All-Americans from Tempe topped the Jayhawk tandem 10-2 to win the match and advance to tomorrow's round of 16 where they'll take on Kauffman/Proctor out of the Palmetto State.
"We actually lost to the same team from Kansas at the All-American Championships, so it was nice to see us make some adjustments and get the win this time," Langley said. "I felt like we were able to capitalize on our opportunities and played aggressively during the tight moments, which was really nice to see as that is something we regularly talk about in practice".
Tomorrow's Sweet 16 matchup will also be a top-10 matchup as Winthrop's duo enters the day ranked ninth, just behind the Sun Devil tandem.