TEMPE – Arizona State continued its impressive run of securing the doubles point when they jumped ahead on No. 6 UCLA, but ultimately the Bruins spoiled ASU's Pac-12 home-opener by defeating the Sun Devils 4-2, Friday at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"I'm really happy with the way we battled today," coach Sheila McInerney said. "I feel bad for the girls to have fought so hard but to come up just short in such a tough match."
It didn't look like the Devils would take the doubles point early as UCLA jumped into an early lead with a win on court two and a couple of tight matches on courts one and three.
The marquee matchup on court one pitted two of the best doubles duos in the nation against one another in No. 6 John-Baptiste/Hattingh and No. 16 Bolton/Hart.
ASU's women found themselves in a scrappy back-and-forth affair with the Bruin tandem with neither duo able to get more than a one-game lead on the other. Knotted up at 5-5, Hattingh/John-Baptiste flipped a switch and won back-to-back games to remain unbeaten in 2019 and win their sixth match as a pairing this season.
It came down to court three where Samantha Alicea and Sammi Hampton were also in a dogfight with Johnson/Atlick. The match went into a tiebreak, but the Devils would go onto prevail and take the match 7-6(7) to give ASU the doubles point.
The Bruins took the lead quickly in singles play, winning on courts four and one in straight sets, then jumping to a 3-1 lead with a win on court three.
Lauryn John-Baptiste picked up the biggest win of the day when she battled back to upset the No. 10 singles player in the nation in Elysia Bolton.
Bolton cruised to a 6-3 first-set win, but John-Baptsite wasn't going away easily and fought back to take the second-set 6-4. She would dominate in the third, jumping ahead to a 4-2 lead before clinching the match 6-2.
"It came down to a nail-biter, which is what you want to see in college tennis," McInerney said.
Although Savannah Slaysman battled back to force a third set on court five, her UCLA opponent held on to win in the third and clinch UCLA's first conference win of the season.
"We'll need to get over this one quickly because we've got another good opponent in town tomorrow," McInerney said.
ASU is back in action tomorrow when it takes on the other Los Angeles school, the 14th-ranked USC Trojans at noon.
"I'm really happy with the way we battled today," coach Sheila McInerney said. "I feel bad for the girls to have fought so hard but to come up just short in such a tough match."
It didn't look like the Devils would take the doubles point early as UCLA jumped into an early lead with a win on court two and a couple of tight matches on courts one and three.
The marquee matchup on court one pitted two of the best doubles duos in the nation against one another in No. 6 John-Baptiste/Hattingh and No. 16 Bolton/Hart.
ASU's women found themselves in a scrappy back-and-forth affair with the Bruin tandem with neither duo able to get more than a one-game lead on the other. Knotted up at 5-5, Hattingh/John-Baptiste flipped a switch and won back-to-back games to remain unbeaten in 2019 and win their sixth match as a pairing this season.
It came down to court three where Samantha Alicea and Sammi Hampton were also in a dogfight with Johnson/Atlick. The match went into a tiebreak, but the Devils would go onto prevail and take the match 7-6(7) to give ASU the doubles point.
The Bruins took the lead quickly in singles play, winning on courts four and one in straight sets, then jumping to a 3-1 lead with a win on court three.
Lauryn John-Baptiste picked up the biggest win of the day when she battled back to upset the No. 10 singles player in the nation in Elysia Bolton.
Bolton cruised to a 6-3 first-set win, but John-Baptsite wasn't going away easily and fought back to take the second-set 6-4. She would dominate in the third, jumping ahead to a 4-2 lead before clinching the match 6-2.
"It came down to a nail-biter, which is what you want to see in college tennis," McInerney said.
Although Savannah Slaysman battled back to force a third set on court five, her UCLA opponent held on to win in the third and clinch UCLA's first conference win of the season.
"We'll need to get over this one quickly because we've got another good opponent in town tomorrow," McInerney said.
ASU is back in action tomorrow when it takes on the other Los Angeles school, the 14th-ranked USC Trojans at noon.