DURHAM, N.C. – Sammi Hampton completed Arizona State's 4-0 clean sweep of No. 30 Illinois to punch the Sun Devils' ticket to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday in Durham, North Carolina.
The win Saturday sent the Sun Devils into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016. They'll face regional host and No. 5 Duke Sunday afternoon for a shot at advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.
"I thought it was certainly a good win for us," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Illinois is obviously a good team and we competed really well today. It was probably one of our best matches of the year because spots one through six really battled hard out there."
ASU grabbed the early lead on the Big Ten runners-up thanks to another stellar performance in doubles from No. 4 and NCAA qualifiers John-Baptiste/Hattingh and No. 73 Hampton/Alicea.
The All-American duo on court one made quick work of their Illini opponents, dropping just one en route to a 6-1 decision that gave the Sun Devils an early edge.
Savannah Slaysman and Sammi Hampton found themselves in a back-and-forth tussle on court three, but Hampton/Alicea clinched court two and the doubles point with a 6-3 win before the third-court Devils could finish.
"Getting that doubles point was huge for us," McInerney said. "That never guarantees anything, but every point counts and we needed that one for sure."
Heading into singles up 1-0, ASU needed just three wins to secure a place in the second round.
The Devils got one of those wins on court two from Lauryn John-Baptiste who powered her way to a dominant first set win 6-1. She hit a speed bump in the second set, dropping a few sets to her Illini opponent, but still managed to lock up the win to push the Devils' advantage to 2-0.
The rest of the matches weren't that easy for either squad. No matter which team had the advantage, the other refused to go away, which led to tiebreaks or third sets on the remaining five courts.
Savannah Slaysman found herself in 4-0 hole early in the first set on court five, but stormed back to force a tiebreak. She took the tiebreak and the first set, but still had her work cut out for her as her opponent kept battling in the second and eventually forced another tiebreak.
Slaysman didn't panic though and rattled off six-straight points to take a big 6-0 lead. Her opponent then responded to push the score to 6-4, but Slaysman picked up the tiebreak win 7-4 to extend the Devils' lead to 3-0.
"It's the end of the year and I think kids realize it's win or go home at this point," McInerney said. "We talked last night about making sure your last match of the year was your best one. We played well enough today to get one more match, but we've got a tough one tomorrow too."
After ASU moved up to 3-0, Ilze Hattingh was tied in the third, Tereza Kolarova led in the third, Sammi Hampton owned a lead on the fourth and Samantha Alicea was in a tiebreak.
It would be Hampton for the win as she slapped a forehand down the line to clinch the win 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 to close the contest and send the Devils to the next round.
"The 4-0 score is a little deceiving," McInerney said. "It was much closer than that, it was hot out and I thought we fought through it and competed really well."
Sunday's all Devils affair will take place at 11 a.m. PT at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham.
The win Saturday sent the Sun Devils into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016. They'll face regional host and No. 5 Duke Sunday afternoon for a shot at advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.
"I thought it was certainly a good win for us," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Illinois is obviously a good team and we competed really well today. It was probably one of our best matches of the year because spots one through six really battled hard out there."
ASU grabbed the early lead on the Big Ten runners-up thanks to another stellar performance in doubles from No. 4 and NCAA qualifiers John-Baptiste/Hattingh and No. 73 Hampton/Alicea.
The All-American duo on court one made quick work of their Illini opponents, dropping just one en route to a 6-1 decision that gave the Sun Devils an early edge.
Savannah Slaysman and Sammi Hampton found themselves in a back-and-forth tussle on court three, but Hampton/Alicea clinched court two and the doubles point with a 6-3 win before the third-court Devils could finish.
"Getting that doubles point was huge for us," McInerney said. "That never guarantees anything, but every point counts and we needed that one for sure."
Heading into singles up 1-0, ASU needed just three wins to secure a place in the second round.
The Devils got one of those wins on court two from Lauryn John-Baptiste who powered her way to a dominant first set win 6-1. She hit a speed bump in the second set, dropping a few sets to her Illini opponent, but still managed to lock up the win to push the Devils' advantage to 2-0.
The rest of the matches weren't that easy for either squad. No matter which team had the advantage, the other refused to go away, which led to tiebreaks or third sets on the remaining five courts.
Savannah Slaysman found herself in 4-0 hole early in the first set on court five, but stormed back to force a tiebreak. She took the tiebreak and the first set, but still had her work cut out for her as her opponent kept battling in the second and eventually forced another tiebreak.
Slaysman didn't panic though and rattled off six-straight points to take a big 6-0 lead. Her opponent then responded to push the score to 6-4, but Slaysman picked up the tiebreak win 7-4 to extend the Devils' lead to 3-0.
"It's the end of the year and I think kids realize it's win or go home at this point," McInerney said. "We talked last night about making sure your last match of the year was your best one. We played well enough today to get one more match, but we've got a tough one tomorrow too."
After ASU moved up to 3-0, Ilze Hattingh was tied in the third, Tereza Kolarova led in the third, Sammi Hampton owned a lead on the fourth and Samantha Alicea was in a tiebreak.
It would be Hampton for the win as she slapped a forehand down the line to clinch the win 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 to close the contest and send the Devils to the next round.
"The 4-0 score is a little deceiving," McInerney said. "It was much closer than that, it was hot out and I thought we fought through it and competed really well."
Sunday's all Devils affair will take place at 11 a.m. PT at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham.