CHICAGO – Savannah Slaysman was No. 14 Arizona State's bright spot in Friday's 4-1 loss to second-ranked North Carolina at the first day of the ITA Indoor National Championships in Chicago.
The Tar Heels backed up their No. 2 status with an opening-round win that snapped the Sun Devils' six-match win streak, and moved themselves to 7-0 on the season.
"It was a tough one today against a good North Carolina team," coach Sheila McInerney said. "It didn't help that we came out slow in doubles and UNC took advantage of our tentative play. Despite the outcome, we had some nice positives come out of the match, though."
Slaysman's court six win over No. 23 Alle Sanford was ASU's sole win of the day against a lineup that fielded six ranked women, including four in the top 25 alone.
The Sun Devil senior won 6-2, 6-3 to pull the Devils closer to the Tar Heels before UNC closed it out to advance to the second round.
Tereza Kolarova was one game away from giving the Devils a second point in the match as she was up 6-2, 5-2 over No. 9 Cameron Morra on court three, but match play was abandoned before she had a chance to complete the top-10 upset.
"I thought we rebounded well in singles and played with a lot more energy," McInerney said. "Savannah and Terka were playing lights out against really quality opponents and we battled much better in singles, so hopefully we can carry that into tomorrow's match."
Although the Sun Devils dropped the first-round matchup with UNC, ASU will get two more opportunities to face top competition this weekend.
ASU's Saturday match will pit them against a Princeton team that worked its way into the tournament by taking down No. 10 Washington and No. 16 Southern California. The Tigers dropped their opening-round match to N.C. State 4-0.
The Tar Heels backed up their No. 2 status with an opening-round win that snapped the Sun Devils' six-match win streak, and moved themselves to 7-0 on the season.
"It was a tough one today against a good North Carolina team," coach Sheila McInerney said. "It didn't help that we came out slow in doubles and UNC took advantage of our tentative play. Despite the outcome, we had some nice positives come out of the match, though."
Slaysman's court six win over No. 23 Alle Sanford was ASU's sole win of the day against a lineup that fielded six ranked women, including four in the top 25 alone.
The Sun Devil senior won 6-2, 6-3 to pull the Devils closer to the Tar Heels before UNC closed it out to advance to the second round.
Tereza Kolarova was one game away from giving the Devils a second point in the match as she was up 6-2, 5-2 over No. 9 Cameron Morra on court three, but match play was abandoned before she had a chance to complete the top-10 upset.
"I thought we rebounded well in singles and played with a lot more energy," McInerney said. "Savannah and Terka were playing lights out against really quality opponents and we battled much better in singles, so hopefully we can carry that into tomorrow's match."
Although the Sun Devils dropped the first-round matchup with UNC, ASU will get two more opportunities to face top competition this weekend.
ASU's Saturday match will pit them against a Princeton team that worked its way into the tournament by taking down No. 10 Washington and No. 16 Southern California. The Tigers dropped their opening-round match to N.C. State 4-0.