TEMPE – For the first time in more than a decade, the 14th-ranked Sun Devil women's tennis team is one of 16 programs headed to the ITA Indoor National Championships, Feb. 7-10 in Chicago.
Fresh off of dominant wins over UNLV and San Diego, ASU is off to its best start since 2011 and hopes to improve its six-match unbeaten run against a group of 15 of the most talented teams in the nation.
Of the 15 other school participating in the tournament, ASU took on nearly half of them last season, and defeated the hosts Illinois in the NCAA tournament to advance to the round of 32.
While the Devils didn't fare as well against the other tournament teams they faced in 2019, McInerney's squad is hoping to have a more successful outing against the field and has already upset one top-10 team this season.
The unbeaten Sun Devils will open up the prestigious 16-team tournament with one of their toughest matches in recent years against the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels at 8:30 a.m. MST at the XS Tennis Village near Hyde Park.
No matter the result Friday, the Devils are guaranteed three matches against the field of top-programs.
ASU will be led into Friday's dual by the new 29th-ranked singles player in the NCAA, senior Ilze Hattingh. The Devils' court one player lost her first two matches against ranked opponents, then upset No. 24 Georgia Drummy of Vanderbilt and defeated No. 68 Solymar Colling from San Diego to climb into the ITA top-30.
She's also a part of ASU's sole ranked doubles duo with Tereza Kolarova. Hattingh has yet to team up with her All-American partner Lauryn John-Baptiste, but that hasn't slowed her down as she and Kolarova have staked a claim in the top-60. The pairing is 3-0 in 2020 and nearly completed upsets of the No. 9 duo from Vanderbilt and 13th-ranked tandem from UNLV before play was abandoned.
The Sun Devil pairing will have its hands full once again in Chicago as their first-round matchup will likely be against the fourth-ranked duo from UNC.
North Carolina leads the all-time series against ASU, 2-1, and ASU's last win over the Tar Heels came back in 2007 when the two teams met in Chapel Hill.
The 2020 ITA Indoor National Championships will be live streamed on the ITA website, and live results can also be found on the host's site.
Fresh off of dominant wins over UNLV and San Diego, ASU is off to its best start since 2011 and hopes to improve its six-match unbeaten run against a group of 15 of the most talented teams in the nation.
Of the 15 other school participating in the tournament, ASU took on nearly half of them last season, and defeated the hosts Illinois in the NCAA tournament to advance to the round of 32.
While the Devils didn't fare as well against the other tournament teams they faced in 2019, McInerney's squad is hoping to have a more successful outing against the field and has already upset one top-10 team this season.
The unbeaten Sun Devils will open up the prestigious 16-team tournament with one of their toughest matches in recent years against the No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels at 8:30 a.m. MST at the XS Tennis Village near Hyde Park.
No matter the result Friday, the Devils are guaranteed three matches against the field of top-programs.
ASU will be led into Friday's dual by the new 29th-ranked singles player in the NCAA, senior Ilze Hattingh. The Devils' court one player lost her first two matches against ranked opponents, then upset No. 24 Georgia Drummy of Vanderbilt and defeated No. 68 Solymar Colling from San Diego to climb into the ITA top-30.
She's also a part of ASU's sole ranked doubles duo with Tereza Kolarova. Hattingh has yet to team up with her All-American partner Lauryn John-Baptiste, but that hasn't slowed her down as she and Kolarova have staked a claim in the top-60. The pairing is 3-0 in 2020 and nearly completed upsets of the No. 9 duo from Vanderbilt and 13th-ranked tandem from UNLV before play was abandoned.
The Sun Devil pairing will have its hands full once again in Chicago as their first-round matchup will likely be against the fourth-ranked duo from UNC.
North Carolina leads the all-time series against ASU, 2-1, and ASU's last win over the Tar Heels came back in 2007 when the two teams met in Chapel Hill.
The 2020 ITA Indoor National Championships will be live streamed on the ITA website, and live results can also be found on the host's site.