TEMPE – The Sun Devil women's tennis team has found new life in late March and will put its win-streak on the line this weekend with two Pac-12 road matches against No. 35 Washington State and No. 13 Washington.
Now on a three-match win-streak after a Pac-12 weekend sweep and a mid-week shellacking of New Mexico State, the Sun Devils get back into their tricky conference schedule to first take on a Cougar team that leads the Pac-12 in wins this season with 16.
Sunday's matchup with Washington will be ASU's eighth match with a top-15 team this season, but the Devils have the historic advantage over coach Robin Stephenson's Huskies, claiming 10-straight victories over the Dogs with their last meeting finishing in a resounding 4-0 win for the Devils.
The same can be said for the ASU-WSU series as coach Sheila McInerney's squads have had the Cougars' number for years, owning a lopsided 25-1 all-time record over the Cougs.
The past will likely not determine the present in this year's Evergreen State series as both of ASU's opponents are having exceptional 2019 seasons. UW's only loss this year came at the hands of then No. 2 Vanderbilt during the ITA Indoor Championships and Wazzu is a perfect 6-0 at the Hollingberry Fieldhouse and, are also in the midst of a three-match win streak.
The Devils will rely on their core six to keep their streak alive with Nos. 109 and 87 Ilze Hattingh and Lauryn John-Baptiste leading the way on courts one and two in singles play, and as the No. 2 tandem in the nation in doubles play.
No. 65 Alicea/Hampton have only dropped one Pac-12 match this season and lead the Sun Devils with a 5-1 record down on court three. The one-three combination has helped the Sun Devils take the doubles point in six of the team's last eight matches.
The Huskies and Cougars both have one ranked singles player apiece with Washington State sophomore Michaela Bayerlova checking in at No. 51, and UW's Stacey Fung coming in at 89. Fung is also a part of Washington's only ranked doubles tandem that checks in at No. 42.
ASU's match in Pullman has the usual 1:30 p.m. PT start time Friday, and ASU will take on Washington at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Live results can be found on the host sites and a recap of the matches will be available on thesundevils.com following the completion of each day's events.
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
Arizona State's win over the New Mexico State Aggies brought the Sun Devils back to .500 with an 8-8 record with only six matches left in the regular season, including this weekend's trip to the Pacific Northwest to take on No. 13 Washington and No. 35 Washington State.
No. 2 doubles tandem Ilze Hattingh and Lauryn John-Baptiste got back to winning ways with a 6-1 point-clinching win on court one. Their match ended moments after No. 65 Alicea/Hampton cleaned up on court three with the same scoreline.
In singles play, the Devils only needed three wins from No. 109 Hattingh, Savannah Slaysman and Tereza Kolarova.
Hattingh got off of the court in a hurry as she blanked her Aggie opposition in the first set, then dropped only one game in the second on her way to a 6-0, 6-1 win to end her three-match winless slide.
Kolarova recorded an identical match score as she swept past her opponent on court three. Kolarova wrapped up the first set without dropping a game, then lost only one in the second to put the Devils up 3-0 with several remaining matches in favor of ASU.
Slaysman would go on to clinch the match for ASU for the second time in less than a week. She picked up her third-straight win in straight sets, fending off Yadira Rubio 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the match and give the Devils their longest win-streak since January.
The Opposition: Wazzu and U-Dub
Arizona State takes on two ranked opponents that it has historically had success against in No. 35 Washington State and 13th-ranked Washington.
The Cougars have prevailed over the Devils just once in the series history, defeating ASU for the first time in 26 tries back in 2012. Since then, though, ASU has rattled off six-straight wins over Wazzu.
ASU has won 10-straight over the Huskies, including last year's 4-0 sweep in Tempe.
In 2019, though, the Huskies and Cougars are on the uptick with U-Dub ranked in the top-15 and boasting a 13-1 record with their one loss coming to then No. 2 Vanderbilt, and the Cougars leading the conference in wins with 16 already in 2019.
Both teams have one ranked singles player with the Washington player coming in at No. 89, and the Cougars placing a player at 51. Washington also has a doubles tandem ranked at No. 42.