TEMPE – After coming up short of a couple of upsets against the Southern California schools on the first weekend of Pac-12 play, Arizona State heads to Northern California this weekend, looking to stop a three-match slide and win its first conference match of 2019.
The task doesn't get easier as the Sun Devils not only hit the road for this weekend's contests, but also have defending national champion No. 5 Stanford and 14th-ranked California awaiting them in the Bay Area.
"Cal and Stanford this weekend are a couple more great challenges for the team on the road," associate head coach Matt Langley said. "Those matches last weekend were tough and even though we didn't come away with the wins, they were good for the team. This weekend will be just as tough, so it's a chance to see how well we can rebound."
ASU has only defeated Stanford twice in program history with its last win coming fairly recently, back at Whiteman in 2016. The lopsided series history is a trend with the Cardinal, though, as it has been one of the most dominant programs in NCAA athletics in its 44-year history. Stanford has more NCAA titles (19) and undefeated seasons (10) than it has seasons with five or more losses (8).
On the other side of the Bay, 14th-ranked Cal is enjoying its best start to a season since 2017. One of their six wins came against the Sun Devils earlier in the season, but the Bears will likely see a different ASU squad hit the courts at the Hellman Tennis Complex Saturday.
"This time around, it'll be a different look," Langley said. "Last time we had a couple of injuries and this time we're anticipating that they'll be playing and that adds a different dynamic to our team makeup."
In their last meeting, the Devils were shorthanded for singles play with Lauryn John-Baptiste, Sammi Hampton and Sasa Klanecek out. Hampton and John-Baptiste have returned to the regular lineup, and the latter is heading into the weekend fresh off her third career Pac-12 weekly honor.
When the Bears visited Tempe last season, the Devils shut them out 4-0 in dominant fashion to record their first win over Cal in seven years.
The first match of the weekend will be against the Cardinal in Palo Alto at 1:30 p.m. PT. ASU will cross the Bay for a Saturday Showdown in Berkeley at noon. Results will be available on the hosts' respective websites, and a recap will be posted following the conclusion of the matches.
John-Baptiste Snags Pac-12 Weekly Honor
After a dominant weekend against opponents from UCLA and USC, Sun Devil sophomore Lauryn John-Baptiste has been named as the Pac-12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.
The honor is John-Baptiste's third in her short tenure as a Devil as the England international earned two as a freshman for ASU back in 2018.
John-Baptiste opened the weekend with a doubles win on court one with her All-American doubles partner Ilze Hattingh.
The No. 6 duo in the nation outlasted UCLA's top doubles squad No. 16 Bolton/Hart, 7-5, to help ASU take the doubles point. John-Baptiste would go on to upset No. 10 Elysia Bolton in singles play on court two, besting the Bruin frosh in a comeback three-set win, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Saturday's match against USC started the same for John-Baptiste/Hattingh as they handled No. 13 Valdes/Kulikov, 6-2, on court one.
John-Baptiste took on Rianna Valdes on court two and picked up wins in back-to-back outings for the first time this season.
The weekly honor is ASU's first on the women's side this season.
Last Time Out
Despite securing the doubles point to jump into early leads against No. 6 UCLA and No. 14 Southern Cal, the Sun Devils came up short in their Pac-12 openers dropping the match to the Bruins 4-2 and suffering a heartbreaker to the Trojans 4-3.
The losses were highlighted with a phenomenal weekend of play from Lauryn John-Baptiste who won both of her singles matches and combined with Ilze Hattingh to win two doubles matches as well. For her outstanding play, she was named as the Pac-12 Player of the Week.
Alicea/Hampton won both of their doubles matches on court three against the LA schools to help put the Devils into the driver's seat heading into singles play.
While John-Baptiste picked up the only singles win Friday, Savannah Slaysman snapped her four-match winless streak Saturday to put ASU within a point of toppling the 14th-ranked Trojans.
The Opposition: Stanford and California
Both of the Bay Area schools have proven to be a thorn in ASU's side in the past as each program owns a large lead in the series history.
Stanford has been the more dominant of the sides, owning a 56-2 record against the Devils. But Stanford has been at the top of the NCAA for decades, losing more than six matches only once in its 44-year history. The Cardinal once went more than 12 years between home losses and have won 27 conference titles.
Current head coach Lele Forood has been in charge in Palo Alto since 2001 and has accumulated more than 400 wins and nine NCAA team titles in her tenure.
This year, the fifth-ranked defending champions are on the title hunt again and have the roster to do it with eight women ranked in the ITA top-125.
An hour north in Berkeley, Amanda Augustus is in her 12th season leading her Alma Mater.
Cal puts four women in the ITA top-125, with two women in the top-25 alone.
When the Devils and Bears last met in January down in Columbia, South Carolina, Ilze Hattingh had match-point on No. 25 Julia Rosenqvist and freshman Samantha Alicea took No. 115 Katerina Stlouklova to a third-set on court four.
The task doesn't get easier as the Sun Devils not only hit the road for this weekend's contests, but also have defending national champion No. 5 Stanford and 14th-ranked California awaiting them in the Bay Area.
"Cal and Stanford this weekend are a couple more great challenges for the team on the road," associate head coach Matt Langley said. "Those matches last weekend were tough and even though we didn't come away with the wins, they were good for the team. This weekend will be just as tough, so it's a chance to see how well we can rebound."
ASU has only defeated Stanford twice in program history with its last win coming fairly recently, back at Whiteman in 2016. The lopsided series history is a trend with the Cardinal, though, as it has been one of the most dominant programs in NCAA athletics in its 44-year history. Stanford has more NCAA titles (19) and undefeated seasons (10) than it has seasons with five or more losses (8).
On the other side of the Bay, 14th-ranked Cal is enjoying its best start to a season since 2017. One of their six wins came against the Sun Devils earlier in the season, but the Bears will likely see a different ASU squad hit the courts at the Hellman Tennis Complex Saturday.
"This time around, it'll be a different look," Langley said. "Last time we had a couple of injuries and this time we're anticipating that they'll be playing and that adds a different dynamic to our team makeup."
In their last meeting, the Devils were shorthanded for singles play with Lauryn John-Baptiste, Sammi Hampton and Sasa Klanecek out. Hampton and John-Baptiste have returned to the regular lineup, and the latter is heading into the weekend fresh off her third career Pac-12 weekly honor.
When the Bears visited Tempe last season, the Devils shut them out 4-0 in dominant fashion to record their first win over Cal in seven years.
The first match of the weekend will be against the Cardinal in Palo Alto at 1:30 p.m. PT. ASU will cross the Bay for a Saturday Showdown in Berkeley at noon. Results will be available on the hosts' respective websites, and a recap will be posted following the conclusion of the matches.
John-Baptiste Snags Pac-12 Weekly Honor
After a dominant weekend against opponents from UCLA and USC, Sun Devil sophomore Lauryn John-Baptiste has been named as the Pac-12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.
The honor is John-Baptiste's third in her short tenure as a Devil as the England international earned two as a freshman for ASU back in 2018.
John-Baptiste opened the weekend with a doubles win on court one with her All-American doubles partner Ilze Hattingh.
The No. 6 duo in the nation outlasted UCLA's top doubles squad No. 16 Bolton/Hart, 7-5, to help ASU take the doubles point. John-Baptiste would go on to upset No. 10 Elysia Bolton in singles play on court two, besting the Bruin frosh in a comeback three-set win, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Saturday's match against USC started the same for John-Baptiste/Hattingh as they handled No. 13 Valdes/Kulikov, 6-2, on court one.
John-Baptiste took on Rianna Valdes on court two and picked up wins in back-to-back outings for the first time this season.
The weekly honor is ASU's first on the women's side this season.
Last Time Out
Despite securing the doubles point to jump into early leads against No. 6 UCLA and No. 14 Southern Cal, the Sun Devils came up short in their Pac-12 openers dropping the match to the Bruins 4-2 and suffering a heartbreaker to the Trojans 4-3.
The losses were highlighted with a phenomenal weekend of play from Lauryn John-Baptiste who won both of her singles matches and combined with Ilze Hattingh to win two doubles matches as well. For her outstanding play, she was named as the Pac-12 Player of the Week.
Alicea/Hampton won both of their doubles matches on court three against the LA schools to help put the Devils into the driver's seat heading into singles play.
While John-Baptiste picked up the only singles win Friday, Savannah Slaysman snapped her four-match winless streak Saturday to put ASU within a point of toppling the 14th-ranked Trojans.
The Opposition: Stanford and California
Both of the Bay Area schools have proven to be a thorn in ASU's side in the past as each program owns a large lead in the series history.
Stanford has been the more dominant of the sides, owning a 56-2 record against the Devils. But Stanford has been at the top of the NCAA for decades, losing more than six matches only once in its 44-year history. The Cardinal once went more than 12 years between home losses and have won 27 conference titles.
Current head coach Lele Forood has been in charge in Palo Alto since 2001 and has accumulated more than 400 wins and nine NCAA team titles in her tenure.
This year, the fifth-ranked defending champions are on the title hunt again and have the roster to do it with eight women ranked in the ITA top-125.
An hour north in Berkeley, Amanda Augustus is in her 12th season leading her Alma Mater.
Cal puts four women in the ITA top-125, with two women in the top-25 alone.
When the Devils and Bears last met in January down in Columbia, South Carolina, Ilze Hattingh had match-point on No. 25 Julia Rosenqvist and freshman Samantha Alicea took No. 115 Katerina Stlouklova to a third-set on court four.