TEMPE – Arizona State welcomes No. 6 UCLA and No. 14 USC to the Whiteman Tennis Center to open the 2019 Pac-12 women's tennis season Friday and Saturday in Tempe.
"It's always fun to start conference play," coach Sheila McInerney said. "We're starting with two good ones with the Bruins and the Trojans, but we've had some recent success with those two teams and our kids are excited about starting the conference season at home."
The 2018 conference campaign saw the Devils finish strong and in third place in the powerhouse Pac-12 for the second-straight season behind second-place UCLA and eventual national champion Stanford.
Coach Stella Sampras Webster's Bruins have historically been a thorn in the Sun Devils' side this decade, handing ASU nine losses since 2010. But the Devils have picked up two 4-3 wins over UCLA since 2016, with both coming in consecutive seasons in Westwood back in 2016 and at Whiteman in 2017.
ASU snapped a seven-year winless streak against the Trojans last season in dominating fashion, upending McInerney's Alma Mater once in downtown Los Angeles and again in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 tournament in Ojai, California.
"Our kids are familiar with who is on the other side of the net this weekend," McInerney said. "They've both got some new kids, but overall we have a pretty good idea of who they are. It doesn't hurt that we've gotten some good results against them in the last few years either."
When the Bruins take to the courts Friday afternoon, they'll put out two of the best doubles tandems in the nation in No. 8 Andrews/Broomfield and No. 14 Bolton/Hart. Elysia Bolton is also one of the top-ranked singles players in the nation.
As for SoCal, freshman Salma Ewing is the highest-ranked Trojan on the roster.
"We'll have to be at our best, but it's like that every week in the Pac-12," McInerney said. "We're opening conference play with two of the tougher teams in the conference, but I think that's good for us because it gives us a chance to see where we fit in the conference."
ASU takes on the Bruins Friday at 1:30 p.m., and the Trojans come to Whiteman Saturday at noon. Follow @SunDevilWTennis on Twitter for live updates on both events, and results and recap will be posted at thesundevils.com after each match.
Hattingh Flying High on Court One
Junior Ilze Hattingh was a doubles All-American for the Sun Devils, playing on court one with Lauryn John-Baptiste for most of the 2018 campaign. This year, she's moved up to court one for singles play and the impressive results are still coming.
The South African international is unbeaten this season with four wins, and three coming on the first court. She's played three ranked opponents, upsetting Ohio State's No.80 Shiori Fukuda and was one set away from toppling No. 25 Julia Rosenqvist of California.
She's only been taken to three sets once this season, and in all but two of her unfinished matches, she's been leading when match play was called.
Although Hattingh is currently unranked in singles, her play on court one in doubles and singles has been vital to the Sun Devils' success this season.
Last Time Out
ASU looked unfazed by yet another rain-canceled match, coming out firing on all cylinders against the No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes in doubles, but the Buckeyes would go on to win the match 4-3.
The pair of Samantha Alicea/Sammi Hampton took the victory first to the tune of a 6-2 win. The tandem put the Sun Devils on the advantage, and the No. 6 ranked Lauryn John-Baptiste/Ilze Hattingh clinched the first point for ASU with a win on court one, 6-4 for their fifth win as a tandem on the season.
Ohio State tied things up at one with a win on court five, but Hattingh didn't let the tie last for long. The junior took a highly competitive first set, 6-3, and took her second set by the same score after taking an early lead and maintaining it until the end.
However, the Buckeyes took wins on courts two and four to pull to a 3-2 lead, leaving Tereza Kolarova and Alicea still in action. Alicea took a long first set 7-5, and took an easy 6-4 victory in her second set to secure her second win of the season. The win again tied the score, this time at 3-3.
The match came down to Kolarova on three, who battled against No. 48 Kolie Allen of Ohio State. The Czech international dropped her first set 6-3, won her second set 6-4, then stayed competitive until the end.
Although she fought back to get into the match, OSU took the game point to secure the 4-3 Buckeye victory.
The Opposition: UCLA and USC
Two historic Pac-12 powerhouses make their way across the border this weekend as UCLA and USC visit the Valley of the Sun for the first time since 2017.
The series history with either program hasn't been successful for ASU, but the Sun Devils have recently picked up wins over both squads with the Devils sweeping last year's matchups with the Trojans, and toppling the Bruins in back-to-back outings in 2016 and 2017.
UCLA has always been one of the top-programs in the nation under 23-year head coach Stella Sampras Webster, while the Trojans are in the second year of a rebuild under Alison Swain who won eight DIII titles at her previous post at Williams College.
Last season, UCLA blanked the Devils when they matched up in Westwood, and the Devils stole a point in their rematch during the Pac-12 Championships.
The Devils sunk the Trojans in LA 4-3 in 2018, then bested them in the conference tournament 4-2 to advance to their meeting with UCLA in the semifinal.
"It's always fun to start conference play," coach Sheila McInerney said. "We're starting with two good ones with the Bruins and the Trojans, but we've had some recent success with those two teams and our kids are excited about starting the conference season at home."
The 2018 conference campaign saw the Devils finish strong and in third place in the powerhouse Pac-12 for the second-straight season behind second-place UCLA and eventual national champion Stanford.
Coach Stella Sampras Webster's Bruins have historically been a thorn in the Sun Devils' side this decade, handing ASU nine losses since 2010. But the Devils have picked up two 4-3 wins over UCLA since 2016, with both coming in consecutive seasons in Westwood back in 2016 and at Whiteman in 2017.
ASU snapped a seven-year winless streak against the Trojans last season in dominating fashion, upending McInerney's Alma Mater once in downtown Los Angeles and again in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 tournament in Ojai, California.
"Our kids are familiar with who is on the other side of the net this weekend," McInerney said. "They've both got some new kids, but overall we have a pretty good idea of who they are. It doesn't hurt that we've gotten some good results against them in the last few years either."
When the Bruins take to the courts Friday afternoon, they'll put out two of the best doubles tandems in the nation in No. 8 Andrews/Broomfield and No. 14 Bolton/Hart. Elysia Bolton is also one of the top-ranked singles players in the nation.
As for SoCal, freshman Salma Ewing is the highest-ranked Trojan on the roster.
"We'll have to be at our best, but it's like that every week in the Pac-12," McInerney said. "We're opening conference play with two of the tougher teams in the conference, but I think that's good for us because it gives us a chance to see where we fit in the conference."
ASU takes on the Bruins Friday at 1:30 p.m., and the Trojans come to Whiteman Saturday at noon. Follow @SunDevilWTennis on Twitter for live updates on both events, and results and recap will be posted at thesundevils.com after each match.
Hattingh Flying High on Court One
Junior Ilze Hattingh was a doubles All-American for the Sun Devils, playing on court one with Lauryn John-Baptiste for most of the 2018 campaign. This year, she's moved up to court one for singles play and the impressive results are still coming.
The South African international is unbeaten this season with four wins, and three coming on the first court. She's played three ranked opponents, upsetting Ohio State's No.80 Shiori Fukuda and was one set away from toppling No. 25 Julia Rosenqvist of California.
She's only been taken to three sets once this season, and in all but two of her unfinished matches, she's been leading when match play was called.
Although Hattingh is currently unranked in singles, her play on court one in doubles and singles has been vital to the Sun Devils' success this season.
Last Time Out
ASU looked unfazed by yet another rain-canceled match, coming out firing on all cylinders against the No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes in doubles, but the Buckeyes would go on to win the match 4-3.
The pair of Samantha Alicea/Sammi Hampton took the victory first to the tune of a 6-2 win. The tandem put the Sun Devils on the advantage, and the No. 6 ranked Lauryn John-Baptiste/Ilze Hattingh clinched the first point for ASU with a win on court one, 6-4 for their fifth win as a tandem on the season.
Ohio State tied things up at one with a win on court five, but Hattingh didn't let the tie last for long. The junior took a highly competitive first set, 6-3, and took her second set by the same score after taking an early lead and maintaining it until the end.
However, the Buckeyes took wins on courts two and four to pull to a 3-2 lead, leaving Tereza Kolarova and Alicea still in action. Alicea took a long first set 7-5, and took an easy 6-4 victory in her second set to secure her second win of the season. The win again tied the score, this time at 3-3.
The match came down to Kolarova on three, who battled against No. 48 Kolie Allen of Ohio State. The Czech international dropped her first set 6-3, won her second set 6-4, then stayed competitive until the end.
Although she fought back to get into the match, OSU took the game point to secure the 4-3 Buckeye victory.
The Opposition: UCLA and USC
Two historic Pac-12 powerhouses make their way across the border this weekend as UCLA and USC visit the Valley of the Sun for the first time since 2017.
The series history with either program hasn't been successful for ASU, but the Sun Devils have recently picked up wins over both squads with the Devils sweeping last year's matchups with the Trojans, and toppling the Bruins in back-to-back outings in 2016 and 2017.
UCLA has always been one of the top-programs in the nation under 23-year head coach Stella Sampras Webster, while the Trojans are in the second year of a rebuild under Alison Swain who won eight DIII titles at her previous post at Williams College.
Last season, UCLA blanked the Devils when they matched up in Westwood, and the Devils stole a point in their rematch during the Pac-12 Championships.
The Devils sunk the Trojans in LA 4-3 in 2018, then bested them in the conference tournament 4-2 to advance to their meeting with UCLA in the semifinal.