TEMPE – The Arizona State women's tennis team ended its regular season on a high note Saturday afternoon in Tempe when it swept in-state rival Arizona 4-0 to secure the Territorial Cup Series point.
The win at Whiteman Tennis Center improved the Sun Devils to 12-9 heading into the postseason, and was the exclamation point on a season-ending run that saw the Devils win seven of their final eight matches to finish with a record above .500 for the 25th-straight season under legendary head coach Sheila McInerney.
"I think no question it's always a tough match against Arizona," McInerney said. "Today was no different, but it was nice to end the season with a big win over them."
Saturday's match started the way most of the Sun Devils' matches started this season. ASU won the doubles point for the 17th time in their 21-match season.
No. 2 John-Baptiste/Hattingh led the way with their quick 6-1 win on court one over the No. 87 tandem, and No. 67 Alicea/Hampton followed shortly after with a 6-3 win.
"It was good to get off the court quickly in doubles," McInerney said. "We won easily at one and then at two they were up big, but the other side went on a little bit of a run. Our girls didn't panic and stayed aggressive to get out of it."
The Devils headed into singles play with a lead and didn't look back, taking three singles wins and wrapping up their 12th win of the season before Arizona had a chance to notch a point of their own.
Savannah Slaysman got off the courts first as she sat down Gitte Heynemans 6-1, 6-3 on court five.
Just like in doubles, court one's Ilze Hattingh had no trouble taking down Wildcat senior Emma Wilson in identical 6-1 set wins.
"Singles got off to a good start with Savannah and Ilze getting done quickly and just like that we're up 3-0," McInerney said. "The rest of the matches were pretty tight though. Sometimes those 4-0 or 4-1 scores can be deceiving. It wasn't totally nip and tuck, but it was a battle."
Although the match was a sweep, the Wildcats didn't go away easily and made things tough for the Sun Devils down the stretch.
Tereza Kolarova and Samantha Alicea both went into a tiebreak in their first sets, and Kolarova pulled out the first set win 7-6 while Alicea dropped hers.
Sammi Hampton and Lauryn John-Baptiste both won their first sets 6-3 on courts four and two, respectively, but the second sets were more of a battle. John-Baptiste went back and forth with Camila Wesbrooks, eventually knotting the match at 5-5.
Hampton was up big in the second, but her opponent fought back to make things interesting at 5-4. Hampton got on a roll in the 10th game of the set and eventually won the match and clinched the 4-0 sweep on an ace.
The regular season finale means that the Sun Devils, Wildcats and the rest of the Pac-12 turn their attention to postseason play starting with the Pac-12 Championships next week in Ojai, California.
"I think in the end, we had a pretty good season," McInerney said. "We had a couple of starters out for the season and we've been battling a few injuries, so to end up where we are and win seven of our last eight is great."
The Sun Devils are the No. 6 seed in the conference and will face No. 11 Oregon Wednesday.
The win at Whiteman Tennis Center improved the Sun Devils to 12-9 heading into the postseason, and was the exclamation point on a season-ending run that saw the Devils win seven of their final eight matches to finish with a record above .500 for the 25th-straight season under legendary head coach Sheila McInerney.
"I think no question it's always a tough match against Arizona," McInerney said. "Today was no different, but it was nice to end the season with a big win over them."
Saturday's match started the way most of the Sun Devils' matches started this season. ASU won the doubles point for the 17th time in their 21-match season.
No. 2 John-Baptiste/Hattingh led the way with their quick 6-1 win on court one over the No. 87 tandem, and No. 67 Alicea/Hampton followed shortly after with a 6-3 win.
"It was good to get off the court quickly in doubles," McInerney said. "We won easily at one and then at two they were up big, but the other side went on a little bit of a run. Our girls didn't panic and stayed aggressive to get out of it."
The Devils headed into singles play with a lead and didn't look back, taking three singles wins and wrapping up their 12th win of the season before Arizona had a chance to notch a point of their own.
Savannah Slaysman got off the courts first as she sat down Gitte Heynemans 6-1, 6-3 on court five.
Just like in doubles, court one's Ilze Hattingh had no trouble taking down Wildcat senior Emma Wilson in identical 6-1 set wins.
"Singles got off to a good start with Savannah and Ilze getting done quickly and just like that we're up 3-0," McInerney said. "The rest of the matches were pretty tight though. Sometimes those 4-0 or 4-1 scores can be deceiving. It wasn't totally nip and tuck, but it was a battle."
Although the match was a sweep, the Wildcats didn't go away easily and made things tough for the Sun Devils down the stretch.
Tereza Kolarova and Samantha Alicea both went into a tiebreak in their first sets, and Kolarova pulled out the first set win 7-6 while Alicea dropped hers.
Sammi Hampton and Lauryn John-Baptiste both won their first sets 6-3 on courts four and two, respectively, but the second sets were more of a battle. John-Baptiste went back and forth with Camila Wesbrooks, eventually knotting the match at 5-5.
Hampton was up big in the second, but her opponent fought back to make things interesting at 5-4. Hampton got on a roll in the 10th game of the set and eventually won the match and clinched the 4-0 sweep on an ace.
The regular season finale means that the Sun Devils, Wildcats and the rest of the Pac-12 turn their attention to postseason play starting with the Pac-12 Championships next week in Ojai, California.
"I think in the end, we had a pretty good season," McInerney said. "We had a couple of starters out for the season and we've been battling a few injuries, so to end up where we are and win seven of our last eight is great."
The Sun Devils are the No. 6 seed in the conference and will face No. 11 Oregon Wednesday.