TEMPE – The Sun Devil women's tennis team returns home to take on No. 38 Utah and Colorado this weekend, seeking its first conference win of the season after running through a gauntlet of matches against four teams ranked in the top-15.
 
"We've had kind of a tough road opening up with the California schools and also Ohio State before them," coach Sheila McInerney said. "We've competed well, we just haven't quite nailed down that W, which is what matters in the end."
 
ASU's first opponent of the homestand is a Utah team that's off to one of its best starts of the decade and boasts the third-best record in the Pac-12.
 
"Mat [Iandolo] has done a great job at Utah," McInerney said. "They're going to be a pretty aggressive team, and I think their doubles will be good, so we're going to have to be prepared. The kids are going to have be resilient because it's going to be a battle this weekend."
 
Since joining the conference for the 2012 season, ASU has notched eight wins over the Utes, with Utah's sole win coming back in its first Pac-12 season. The Devils' historic dominance over the western mountain school almost mirrors ASU's dominance over the eastern program, Colorado, who hits the courts Saturday in Tempe.
 
The Buffaloes from Boulder are still seeking their first win over the Sun Devils in series history as ASU has racked up nine-straight wins over Colorado.
 
In the rankings, while Utah as a team slots in at No. 38, it's Colorado who has a representative in the ITA Singles Poll with its freshman phenom Sara Nayar checking in at 121.
 
"We had a tough time with both teams last year when we played them at their places indoors," McInerney said. "They've both got a lot of new kids, but they're always a tough out no matter who's on court for them."
 
ASU put two new faces in the singles rankings this week as court one's Ilze Hattingh debuted at No. 109, and Lauryn John-Baptiste moved up to 87. The pair also combine to make up the No. 2 doubles team in the nation and own an 8-1 record in 2019.
 
Court three tandem Hampton/Alicea has been important to helping the Devils take the doubles point this year and the first-year pairing earned their first rank as a duo this week, taking the No. 65 spot in the poll.
 
The match with No. 38 Utah is scheduled to get underway at 1:30 on Friday, and ASU will battle the Buffaloes at noon on Saturday. Live scoring will be available on thesundevils.com and live stream links will be posted from @SunDevilWTennis.
 

Dynamic Duos: Rankings Update
The Sun Devil All-American duo of John-Baptiste/Hattingh has reached new heights, earning a spot as the No. 2 doubles tandem in the nation in this week's Oracle/ITA doubles rankings.

 John-Baptiste/Hattingh improved four places to No. 2 this week after a stretch of impressive victories over three pairings currently ranked in the top-22.

The duo has been vital in helping the Devils grab the doubles point in three of their first four Pac-12 matches this year. During their conference-opening weekend, the second-ranked squad handled No. 20 Valdes/Kulikov then downed No. 22 Bolton/Hart of UCLA. Last weekend, they opened the Bay Area series with a win over No. 12 Lampl/Yee, but would drop their first match of the season to No. 13 Mraz/Rozenqvist Saturday.

Along with the Devils' court one duo, court three's Hampton/Alicea found themselves in the rankings for the first time this season as No. 65.

In singles play, John-Baptiste leads the way with a No. 87 rank, and Ilze Hattingh jumped into the top-150 at 109.
 
 
Last Time Out
No. 6 John-Baptiste/Hattingh earned its third-straight win over a ranked duo, defeating No. 11 Lampl/Yee 6-4 to secure the doubles point over No. 5 Stanford moments after Hampton/Alicea picked up their third-straight win as a tandem.

Hattingh handled No. 41 Melissa Lord, upending Stanford's court-one woman 6-1, 6-2. The win snapped Hattingh's two-match losing streak and lifted her to 5-2 on the season.

Although Ilze Hattingh recorded the upset on court one to extend the Devils' lead over the Cardinal, Stanford battled back to eventually advance to 9-1 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.

On Saturday, California managed to keep the Sun Devils quiet, and kept ASU off the board early for just the third time this season. Cal took wins on courts one and three to take the doubles point.

In singles play, the Devils found themselves in a 2-0 hole after court one went the way of the Bears, but the remaining courts were up for grabs as the other five would end up going the distance to determine a victor.
           
Courts two and five would also eventually give the Bears two more points to clinch the match for California, and ASU picked up two points from courts two and four.
           
Lauryn John-Baptiste recorded her second win over a ranked opponent this season when she defeated No. 115 Katerina Stloukalova.
           
Sammi Hampton would make it a 5-2 final when she held off Maria Smith 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 to close the match.
           

The Opposition: Utah and Colorado
Coming down from the mountains and into the desert this weekend will be No. 38 Utah and Colorado.
           
Friday's opponent from the Beehive State is led by 12-year head coach Mat Iandolo who has the Utes flying so far in 2019 with their best record through 13 games since 2016 when they opened the season with an identical 10-3 record.
           
The Buffs and first-year coach Danielle Steinberg are just above .500 on the year, but upset then No. 28 Washington State earlier this month and come into the weekend having won four of their last six matches.
           
Colorado has one ranked singled player in freshman Sara Nayar, while Utah doesn't have a player in the top-125.