TEMPE – While the typical Territorial Cup Series point is up for grabs when the Sun Devils and Wildcats dual at the Whiteman Tennis Center, there are a few more things on the line this Saturday at noon in Tempe, including Pac-12 seeding and NCAA Tournament hopes.
"You don't do too much different in a match like this," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Obviously it's a big match, it's a rivalry and they're playing well right now, but we just have to focus on how we're handling things on our side of the court."
For the Sun Devils, McInerney's squad turned things around after a five-match slump between Feb. 23 and March 16, and has now won seven of their previous eight with ASU's only loss coming on the road against No. 13 Washington.
The improvement has put ASU in the driver's seat for its postseason destiny, but its Pac-12 seeding has been set as the Devils will enter the tournament in Ojai as the No. 6 seed. Their 11 wins guarantee they will finish the regular season with a winning record for the 25th-straight season, and has them in a position to advance to the NCAA Team Championships for the 32nd-straight year.
"We're pretty much locked in at 6, but we're not looking that far ahead," McInerney said. "The most important match for us is the match on Saturday. It's U of A, it's going to be intense and it's a big one for both of us."
As for the school down south, a loss Saturday would put the Cats at .500 with a chance of dropping below the critical win percentage with a loss in the conference tournament, making them ineligible for an NCAA bid.
The rivalry for the state of Arizona has been one-sided with the Devils owning a 45-19 advantage over U of A, including four-straight wins.
Arizona is enjoying one of its better seasons in recent history, though. First-year head coach Ryan Stotland has the Wildcats hovering around .500 and tournament eligibility for the first time since 2015.
This year's matchup will feature most of the same faces as last year with ASU sending four of its starters from last year to the courts, including Tereza Kolarova who clinched the win in 2018. Arizona will field three women who participated in last year's match.
"It's a rivalry and it's a good way to end the season, so I think our kids will be ready for it," McInerney said. "We're expecting a good battle and we plan to battle, too."
No. 39 ASU will take on the Wildcats Saturday at noon. Live results and a live stream will be available on thesundevils.com. Follow @SunDevilWTennis on Twitter for updates.
Dynamic Duos: Rankings Update
The Sun Devil All-American duo of John-Baptiste/Hattingh leads the way for ASU once again in the latest Oracle/ITA Doubles poll, coming in at No. 2.
Last week, the tandem made history as the first Sun Devil pairing to top the poll at No. 1, but the two All-Americans were not alone in the ranking.
Samantha Alicea and Sammi Hampton combine to make the No. 67 doubles tandem in the NCAA and have recently moved up to court two.
The duos have been vital in helping the Devils grab the doubles point in six of their nine 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.
In singles play, John-Baptiste leads the way with a No. 101 rank, and Ilze Hattingh shifted in the top-125 to 116.
Last Time Out
Tereza Kolarova locked up the Sun Devil women's team's fourth conference win of the season Sunday when she swept her way to a win on court three to make the team score 4-1 in a match ASU would go on to win 6-1 over the Oregon Ducks.
Kolarova had a perfect day on court three as she opened the day with a win in doubles with Savannah Slaysman to help ASU earn the doubles point and grab an early 1-0 lead over the visiting Ducks.
No. 1 John-Baptiste/Hattingh clinched the advantage with their 6-2 win on court one. Down early in the set, the All-Americans won five straight games to put away their opponents and win their 13th doubles match in 2019.
Freshman Samantha Alicea picked up where she left off in last weekend's win over Denver and got off of the court quickly by sweeping her opponent on court six. She made it 2-0, but the lead would balloon to 3-0 shortly after when Ilze Hattingh's win on court one.
Hattingh dropped two games in the first set, but refused to budge in the second, sweeping her way to a 6-2, 6-0 decision.
The match slowed down once the Ducks grabbed one back on court five. Sammi Hampton was already in the third set and looking to complete the comeback, and courts one and two looked as though they would be heading into a third set too with Kolarova and Lauryn John-Baptiste down in the second.
Kolarova fought her way to a tiebreak and went on to clinch the match for the Devils with a 9-7 scoreline in the deciding game. The Ducks and Devils played out the final two matches and both John-Baptiste and Hampton came away with wins to make the final 6-1.
The Opposition: the school down south
The Wildcats are thriving under first-year head coach Ryan Stotland, owning an 11-10 record so far in 2019.
Although they sit at 2-7 in the Pac-12, Stotland's team recently broke into the Oracle/ITA top-50 for the first time since 2016 a few weeks ago, and has a chance to finish as high as seventh in the Pac-12.
While the Devils will bring back the entire squad for the 2020 campaign as ASU fields only three upperclassmen and no seniors, the Wildcats are loaded with seniority as four of their eight women will play their final regular season match for U of A this Saturday.
England internationals Emma Wilson and Sophia Thomas combine to make the No. 75 doubles pair in the nation and are the Wildcats' only ranked women.
Despite a 2-7 record in conference, U of A nearly defeated No. 10 UCLA and earned two match wins against the Trojans during their L.A. series.