TEMPE – Arizona State's first road trip of the season sends the Devils to the Music City where they will battle to advance out of the Nashville region at the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
"We're going indoors, so there's a bit of a change where the courts are quicker, but we're getting there early enough to where we have a chance to get a feel for everything," coach Sheila McInerney said. "The conditions are going to be different and the competition is going to be great, so we just have to make sure we're ready."
ASU (2-0) will start the weekend with a neutral-site match against Northwestern (0-0). The Wildcats from Evanston will be playing in their first dual matches of 2020, and their first since being eliminated by Princeton, 4-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
This will be their first meeting since the Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 5-2 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, back in 2016. Only one player from the previous meeting remains on either squad in Sun Devil senior Sammi Hampton, who was a freshman back in 2016.
Despite the loss four years ago, ASU holds an overall series lead of 3-2 against Northwestern.
"Coach [Claire] Pollard does a really good job with her team, they're usually a really solid team," McInerney said. "They're not going to beat themselves and we have a few notes on their team even though it's pretty early."
The winner of the first-round match will go on to play for the regional crown against the winner of the other first-round match between host and No. 9 Vanderbilt and the Ivy League's Penn.
While the Devils own a 1-0 advantage over the Quakers, if ASU meets the Commodores in the next round, it will be their first meeting in program history.
The match with Northwestern will start the weekend in Nashville at 11 a.m. MST, and the match time for Saturday will be determined following the first day's results.
To follow along with the match, a live stream and live stats link will be available on the Commodores athletics site.
"We're going indoors, so there's a bit of a change where the courts are quicker, but we're getting there early enough to where we have a chance to get a feel for everything," coach Sheila McInerney said. "The conditions are going to be different and the competition is going to be great, so we just have to make sure we're ready."
ASU (2-0) will start the weekend with a neutral-site match against Northwestern (0-0). The Wildcats from Evanston will be playing in their first dual matches of 2020, and their first since being eliminated by Princeton, 4-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
This will be their first meeting since the Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 5-2 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, back in 2016. Only one player from the previous meeting remains on either squad in Sun Devil senior Sammi Hampton, who was a freshman back in 2016.
Despite the loss four years ago, ASU holds an overall series lead of 3-2 against Northwestern.
"Coach [Claire] Pollard does a really good job with her team, they're usually a really solid team," McInerney said. "They're not going to beat themselves and we have a few notes on their team even though it's pretty early."
The winner of the first-round match will go on to play for the regional crown against the winner of the other first-round match between host and No. 9 Vanderbilt and the Ivy League's Penn.
While the Devils own a 1-0 advantage over the Quakers, if ASU meets the Commodores in the next round, it will be their first meeting in program history.
The match with Northwestern will start the weekend in Nashville at 11 a.m. MST, and the match time for Saturday will be determined following the first day's results.
To follow along with the match, a live stream and live stats link will be available on the Commodores athletics site.