TEMPE - No. 34 Arizona State (10-7, 3-4 Pac-12) lost its second match of the weekend Saturday afternoon when No. 39 USC (11-6, 5-2 Pac-12) defeated the Sun Devils 5-2 at Whiteman Tennis Center. ASU celebrated Cali Jankowski's two-set victory in the loss.
"I'm not sure if we played quite as well today as we did yesterday against UCLA, but alot of that has to do with USC," head coach Sheila McInerney said. "I think they came out and played really well, particularly after losing the doubles point. They have a really talented team and I thought their kids were hitting on all cylinders, especially their top three courts. We hung in but just didn't have enough today but I think playing these two matches this weekend helped us going into next week in our last two home matches and hopefully we finish the season strong."
ASU opened the day with a doubles point victory that went down to the wire. USC's Summer Dvorak/Naomi Cheong defeated Tereza Kolarova/Domenika Turkovic at No. 3 before Ilze Hattingh/Lauryn John-Baptiste won, 6-2, at No. 1, leaving the point up to Sammi Hampton/Marianna Argyrokastriti at No. 2. The pair fought to a 6-6 tie to force a seven-point tiebreak which they won handedly, 7-3, to put the Maroon and Gold ahead.
Singles opened with Cali Jankowski earned an impressive 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 6, her fifth of the season. The match was all USC from there though as the Trojans rallied to win each remaining match in two sets.
Up Next
The Sun Devils close out the home portion of the regular season next weekend when Utah and Colorado come to town. ASU and the Utes play at 1:30 p.m. Friday before playing Colorado Saturday at 11 a.m.
4/3/2021 at Tempe, AZ
(Whiteman Tennis Center)
#39 USC 5, #34 Arizona State 2
Singles competition
1. Salma Ewing (USC) def. Hattingh,Ilze (ASU) 7-5, 6-3
2. Eryn Cayetano (USC) def. Hampton,Sammi (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Naomi Cheong (USC) def. John-Baptiste,Lauryn (ASU) 7-6, 6-3
4. Danielle Willson (USC) def. Argyrokastriti,M (ASU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Summer Dvorak (USC) def. Turkovic,Domenika (ASU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Jankowski,Cali (ASU) def. Clarke McKee (USC) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Hattingh,Ilze/John-Baptiste,Lauryn (ASU) def. Angela Kulikov/Eryn Cayetano (USC) 6-2
2. Hampton,Sammi/Argyrokastriti,M (ASU) def. Salma Ewing/Clarke McKee (USC) 7-6
3. Summer Dvorak/Naomi Cheong (USC) def. Kolarova,Tereza/Turkovic,Domenika (ASU) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,2,4,1,3,5)
"I'm not sure if we played quite as well today as we did yesterday against UCLA, but alot of that has to do with USC," head coach Sheila McInerney said. "I think they came out and played really well, particularly after losing the doubles point. They have a really talented team and I thought their kids were hitting on all cylinders, especially their top three courts. We hung in but just didn't have enough today but I think playing these two matches this weekend helped us going into next week in our last two home matches and hopefully we finish the season strong."
ASU opened the day with a doubles point victory that went down to the wire. USC's Summer Dvorak/Naomi Cheong defeated Tereza Kolarova/Domenika Turkovic at No. 3 before Ilze Hattingh/Lauryn John-Baptiste won, 6-2, at No. 1, leaving the point up to Sammi Hampton/Marianna Argyrokastriti at No. 2. The pair fought to a 6-6 tie to force a seven-point tiebreak which they won handedly, 7-3, to put the Maroon and Gold ahead.
Singles opened with Cali Jankowski earned an impressive 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 6, her fifth of the season. The match was all USC from there though as the Trojans rallied to win each remaining match in two sets.
Up Next
The Sun Devils close out the home portion of the regular season next weekend when Utah and Colorado come to town. ASU and the Utes play at 1:30 p.m. Friday before playing Colorado Saturday at 11 a.m.
4/3/2021 at Tempe, AZ
(Whiteman Tennis Center)
#39 USC 5, #34 Arizona State 2
Singles competition
1. Salma Ewing (USC) def. Hattingh,Ilze (ASU) 7-5, 6-3
2. Eryn Cayetano (USC) def. Hampton,Sammi (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Naomi Cheong (USC) def. John-Baptiste,Lauryn (ASU) 7-6, 6-3
4. Danielle Willson (USC) def. Argyrokastriti,M (ASU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Summer Dvorak (USC) def. Turkovic,Domenika (ASU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Jankowski,Cali (ASU) def. Clarke McKee (USC) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Hattingh,Ilze/John-Baptiste,Lauryn (ASU) def. Angela Kulikov/Eryn Cayetano (USC) 6-2
2. Hampton,Sammi/Argyrokastriti,M (ASU) def. Salma Ewing/Clarke McKee (USC) 7-6
3. Summer Dvorak/Naomi Cheong (USC) def. Kolarova,Tereza/Turkovic,Domenika (ASU) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,2,4,1,3,5)