TEMPE – Arizona State returns to the Whiteman Tennis Center for a pair of tough matches against two Power Five programs in the Big 12's TCU and No. 11 Ohio State from the Big Ten.
After going nearly 40 years between meeting on the hardcourt, the Horned Frogs and Sun Devils will battle for the second-consecutive season this Friday. ASU is 2-0 all-time against TCU with their last win coming when the Devils knocked off then No. 25 TCU, 4-1, at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma, back in 2018.
"We try to play a good schedule, we have a lot of good home matches for sure and these two are a couple of the best we'll see this year," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Last year we played a couple of good matches with both of these teams and we expect it to be tough this year again."
The Sun Devils and Buckeyes are familiar with one another as this weekend's meeting in Tempe will be the fifth time in as many seasons the two programs have met in dual-match play. Ohio State has won all four of the previous matchups since 2015, and the Buckeyes have the rare claim as one of the two non-conference opponents who have defeated ASU at the Whiteman Tennis Center in the past three seasons.
"It's nice to play at home, but the court isn't going to do the playing for you," McInerney said. "We're good outdoors, we love to play in front of our fans, but to get past these teams we're going to have to step up our play for sure."
Overall, Ohio State holds a 4-1 advantage in the series history with ASU's sole win coming back in 1990 when they blanked the Buckeyes 9-0 in their first ever clash.
Sophomore Tereza Kolarova and juniors Sammi Hampton and Ilze Hattingh are coming into weekend on a hot-streak. Kolarova leads the team with five wins this season and both Hattingh and Hampton are unbeaten in singles play in 2019.
Hampton has won all three of her outings this season since returning from wrist surgery at the end of January. Another Sun Devil back from injury is Lauryn John-Baptiste, who won her first match since coming back last weekend in San Diego.
Friday's match between the Horned Frogs and Sun Devils will get going at 1:30 p.m. MST.
Saturday's match at noon will also be USTA Family Day. For live updates on the matches, follow @SunDevilWTennis on Twitter.
Rankings Update
The All-American duo of Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh moved up one place to No. 6 in the latest Oracle/ITA doubles ranking to remain the highest ranked doubles tandem in the Pac-12..
Since the start of fall play, the second-year pairing is 5-2, with four wins over ranked opponents. Both losses came against ranked foes including one against current No. 3 Koch/Khmelnitckaia of Kansas in an 8-6 barn-burner in the quarterfinal at the ITA All-American Championships in Surprise.
John-Baptiste/Hattingh avenged their loss to the Jayhawks a month later at the ITA Fall National Championships.
The Pac-12 puts five teams in the Oracle/ITA top-25, including Nos. 4 and 5 Stanford and UCLA.
Washington State jumped into the rankings at No. 15, USC earned a spot at No. 17, and Cal moved up one place to No. 24.
Last Time Out
The Sun Devil women's tennis team earned its first road victory of the season Saturday when they took care of the San Diego State Aztecs, 5-2, at the Aztec Tennis Center.
Despite trotting out the No. 7 doubles pairing in the nation on court one, the Devils earned the doubles point with wins on courts two and three before John-Baptiste/Hattingh could finish on one. Kolarova/Slaysman got off the court first by upending their opponents 6-3, and Hampton/Alicea wrapped things up just after with a 6-2 win on court three.
Singles play went by quickly as all six courts needed just two sets to determine winners with Ilze Hattingh, Lauryn John-Baptiste, Tereza Kolarova and Sammi Hampton all winning on their respective courts, and two Aztecs claiming courts four and six.
Sasa Klanecek won her first set against Agustina Rimaldi on court six, but the Aztec frosh bounced back to take the second set. Klanecek retired before starting the third, giving the point to SDSU.
On court three, Kolarova picked up her team-leading fifth solo win of the spring in a 6-3, 7-6 battle against Nnena Ndozie. John-Baptiste returned to form and dropped only two games on her way to her second win of the season and first win since returning from a wrist injury.
Hampton's win on court five was her third-straight since rejoining the team after more than a month off due to injury.
Home, Sweet Home
The Whiteman Tennis Center has been a fortress for the Sun Devils in recent years.
The Sun Devil women's team has picked up 48 wins while dropping only three matches in the past six years during non-conference play at Whiteman.
Last year, ASU won every non-conference match at home and dropped one home match overall to eventual national champion Stanford.
Of the three non-conference losses since 2011, two have been to Ohio State, who returns to Tempe later this season, and the other came against then No. 9 Pepperdine, who the Devils will visit this season in Malibu.
In 2019, ASU has six more home non-conference matches, including battles against TCU, Ohio State and Denver.
Overall, ASU has 12 matches in the comfy confines of the Whiteman Tennis Center, including visits from Southern Cal and UCLA, and the school down south to wrap up the season.
After going nearly 40 years between meeting on the hardcourt, the Horned Frogs and Sun Devils will battle for the second-consecutive season this Friday. ASU is 2-0 all-time against TCU with their last win coming when the Devils knocked off then No. 25 TCU, 4-1, at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma, back in 2018.
"We try to play a good schedule, we have a lot of good home matches for sure and these two are a couple of the best we'll see this year," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Last year we played a couple of good matches with both of these teams and we expect it to be tough this year again."
The Sun Devils and Buckeyes are familiar with one another as this weekend's meeting in Tempe will be the fifth time in as many seasons the two programs have met in dual-match play. Ohio State has won all four of the previous matchups since 2015, and the Buckeyes have the rare claim as one of the two non-conference opponents who have defeated ASU at the Whiteman Tennis Center in the past three seasons.
"It's nice to play at home, but the court isn't going to do the playing for you," McInerney said. "We're good outdoors, we love to play in front of our fans, but to get past these teams we're going to have to step up our play for sure."
Overall, Ohio State holds a 4-1 advantage in the series history with ASU's sole win coming back in 1990 when they blanked the Buckeyes 9-0 in their first ever clash.
Sophomore Tereza Kolarova and juniors Sammi Hampton and Ilze Hattingh are coming into weekend on a hot-streak. Kolarova leads the team with five wins this season and both Hattingh and Hampton are unbeaten in singles play in 2019.
Hampton has won all three of her outings this season since returning from wrist surgery at the end of January. Another Sun Devil back from injury is Lauryn John-Baptiste, who won her first match since coming back last weekend in San Diego.
Friday's match between the Horned Frogs and Sun Devils will get going at 1:30 p.m. MST.
Saturday's match at noon will also be USTA Family Day. For live updates on the matches, follow @SunDevilWTennis on Twitter.
Rankings Update
The All-American duo of Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh moved up one place to No. 6 in the latest Oracle/ITA doubles ranking to remain the highest ranked doubles tandem in the Pac-12..
Since the start of fall play, the second-year pairing is 5-2, with four wins over ranked opponents. Both losses came against ranked foes including one against current No. 3 Koch/Khmelnitckaia of Kansas in an 8-6 barn-burner in the quarterfinal at the ITA All-American Championships in Surprise.
John-Baptiste/Hattingh avenged their loss to the Jayhawks a month later at the ITA Fall National Championships.
The Pac-12 puts five teams in the Oracle/ITA top-25, including Nos. 4 and 5 Stanford and UCLA.
Washington State jumped into the rankings at No. 15, USC earned a spot at No. 17, and Cal moved up one place to No. 24.
Last Time Out
The Sun Devil women's tennis team earned its first road victory of the season Saturday when they took care of the San Diego State Aztecs, 5-2, at the Aztec Tennis Center.
Despite trotting out the No. 7 doubles pairing in the nation on court one, the Devils earned the doubles point with wins on courts two and three before John-Baptiste/Hattingh could finish on one. Kolarova/Slaysman got off the court first by upending their opponents 6-3, and Hampton/Alicea wrapped things up just after with a 6-2 win on court three.
Singles play went by quickly as all six courts needed just two sets to determine winners with Ilze Hattingh, Lauryn John-Baptiste, Tereza Kolarova and Sammi Hampton all winning on their respective courts, and two Aztecs claiming courts four and six.
Sasa Klanecek won her first set against Agustina Rimaldi on court six, but the Aztec frosh bounced back to take the second set. Klanecek retired before starting the third, giving the point to SDSU.
On court three, Kolarova picked up her team-leading fifth solo win of the spring in a 6-3, 7-6 battle against Nnena Ndozie. John-Baptiste returned to form and dropped only two games on her way to her second win of the season and first win since returning from a wrist injury.
Hampton's win on court five was her third-straight since rejoining the team after more than a month off due to injury.
Home, Sweet Home
The Whiteman Tennis Center has been a fortress for the Sun Devils in recent years.
The Sun Devil women's team has picked up 48 wins while dropping only three matches in the past six years during non-conference play at Whiteman.
Last year, ASU won every non-conference match at home and dropped one home match overall to eventual national champion Stanford.
Of the three non-conference losses since 2011, two have been to Ohio State, who returns to Tempe later this season, and the other came against then No. 9 Pepperdine, who the Devils will visit this season in Malibu.
In 2019, ASU has six more home non-conference matches, including battles against TCU, Ohio State and Denver.
Overall, ASU has 12 matches in the comfy confines of the Whiteman Tennis Center, including visits from Southern Cal and UCLA, and the school down south to wrap up the season.