April 19, 2000
ON TAP: The 11th-ranked Arizona State women's tennis team (11-7, 3-4 Pac-10) will close out its regular and Pac-10 seasons in Tucson vs. 20th-ranked Arizona. The match will take place at Robson Tennis Center at 1 p.m. The contest will mark the Sun Devils' third straight on the road. The women will also be looking to end a two-match losing streak, after falling to fourth-ranked California and top-ranked Stanford last week. ASU has also lost five of its last six matches.
THE OPPONENTS: 20th-ranked Arizona carries a 9-10 overall record and is 3-4 in the Pac-10. The Wildcats not only share identical league records with the Sun Devils, but both teams are trying to break a two-match losing stread after falling to California and Stanford last week. Arizona is led by sophomore Lindsay Blau, who is ranked 73rd, and freshman Uzma Khan, ranked 88th. Blau and Michelle Gough are ranked 10th in doubles. Arizona State swept the Wildcats 9-0 earlier this season in Tempe and have won the past four meetings, dating back to the 1998 season.
STREAKING: Since Arizona State began keeping team records in 1967, the Sun Devils have only had one losing season in those 33 years. Losing streaks are hard to come by for such an established program, which made this year's recent three-match skid something to talk about. ASU dropped consecutive matches to USC, Texas and Washington before defeating Washington State on April 8. The last time the Sun Devils dropped three straight was at the end of the 1997-98 season, falling to Texas, Stanford and California. Dating back to 1986, the Lady Devils' longest win drought was six matches, occurring in both the 1987 and '89 seasons.
IN THE PAC: The Sun Devils are playing in the toughest conference in the country. All six of the southern Pac-10 schools are ranked in the top 20, three of which are in the top 10. Stanford and California are ranked first and fourth, respectively, while UCLA is eighth and Arizona State holds down 11th. USC is 12th, followed by Arizona in the 20th spot. The northern Pac-10 schools are not far behind. Washington is ranked 25th, Oregon is 49th and Washington State is 62nd. Individually, five of the top 10 players - including the top three - come from our conference and in the 100 athletes that are ranked, 22 hail from the Pac-10. That same ratio is found in the doubles rankings, where five leage tandems are in the top 10 and 10 are in the top 50.
IN THE RANKINGS: Although the Sun Devils' stay at the No. 2 spot in the country lasted briefly, as a miscalculation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association moved the squad one spot too high, the No. 3 ranking ASU earned in the March 22 edition was the program's highest ever. During the previous week, the team moved from No. 7 to No. 4 surpassing the program's previous highest ranking, a No. 6 mark achieved during the 1997 season. After dropping five of the last six matches, the squad is currently ranked 11th. Individual rankings were published on April 12, placing sophomore Allison Bradshaw down three spots to 15th-best in the country. Junior Karin Palme vaulted up to No. 28 from her 70th-place just two weeks ago and is currently 36th. Freshman Megan Yeats improved one spot and is now ranked 60th. In doubles, the tandem of Bradshaw and Celena McCoury are ranked 21st, despite not playing together since February. A second duo debuted this week, as Yeats and Mhairi Brown are ranked 44th.
LAST WEEK'S ACTION: The squad went 0-2 in Pac-10 play, falling to fourth-ranked California and top-ranked Stanford.
At the Hellman Tennis Center in Berkeley, Arizona State fell to California 7-2.
Arizona State was one of only three teams to have beaten the Bears - joining Stanford and Pepperdine - as the Sun Devils defeated then second-ranked Cal 5-4 in Tempe on March 4. But Cal found revenge, sweeping all six singles matches. The Bears' Karoline Borgersen defeated ASU's Megan Yeats 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in a three-hour battle, snapping Yeats' 13-match win streak.
ASU scored its only points in doubles play, winning on courts one and three.
Sophomore All-American and 15th-ranked Allison Bradshaw returned to the lineup after missing eight matches in seven weeks due to a foot stress fracture. She fell to Cal's Amy Jensen in straight sets.
At Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium, ASU's luck didn't change as the Sun Devils fell by a 7-1 score.
In singles competition, junior Karin Palme scored the only point for the Sun Devils when she defeated 47th-ranked Teryn Ashley on court two.
In only her second match since returning from injury, Bradshaw lost on court one to second-ranked Marissa Irvin, but became only the second person this season to take the Cardinal sophomore to three sets.
THE COACH CLAIMS 250TH WIN: Sheila McInerney, in her 16th season at the helm of the Sun Devil program, earned her 250th career win as ASU defeated Oregon on Feb. 19. McInerney, who is averaging 16 wins per season, has led her team the past two seasons to back-to-back NCAA Round of 16 finishes. ASU has made NCAA appearances in 14 of McInerney's 15 seasons, including six quarterfinal finishes. During her tenure at ASU, the 1997 ITA National Coach of the Year owns a 255-153 record and has been a two-time ITA/West Region Coach of the Year honoree. Additionally, McInerney has tutored 18 Sun Devil All-Americans, 11 All-Pac-10 players and 22 conference All-Academic honorees.
ALLISON BRADSHAW: After being sidelined for seven weeks with a stress fracture in her foot, Allison Bradshaw returned last weekend. Although she dropped both matches, she took second-ranked Marissa Irvin of Stanford to three sets, becomming only the second person this season to take the Cardinal sophomore the distance. Bradshaw is the highest ranked player for the Sun Devils in the ITA standings, 15th-best in the country. She and teammate Celena McCoury are the only doubles tandem ranked on the squad and are currently 23rd. Bradshaw has played the No. 1 spot for the Sun Devils all season and is 6-4 in dual matches and is 14-6 overall. The sophomore from San Diego, Calif., played in the ITA Summer Championships, making her way to the third round before retiring due to injury. As a freshman in 1998-99, Bradshaw earned All-America honors in singles and doubles, receiving a top-16 seed in the NCAA Championship singles tournament and a top-8 seed, with former teammate Katy Propstra, in the doubles competition. She currently carries 45-20 career record.
KARIN PALME: Junior Karin Palme, from Guadalajara, Mexico, brings international experience to the Sun Devil squad due to her appearances in the 1998 Fed Cup, 1998 Central American Games and 1995 Pan American Games representing Mexico. Ranked 36th by the ITA, she currently carries a 10-8 dual, 18-11 overall record, playing mostly in the No. 2 spot during singles competition. She is 3-5 vs. ranked oppoents at the No. 1 position, where she played for seven weeks in place of the injured Bradshaw. Palme is 50-35 in her singles career. She and teammate Kerry Giardino are undefeated in doubles compeition this season, 9-0 in dual matches, 10-0 overall at the No. 3 spot.
FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE: Freshmen Mhairi Brown and Megan Yeats are the only members on the team to notch 20 wins on the season as Brown reached the milestone vs. Washington State two weeks ago. Yeats currently posts a team-high 14-3 dual record while Brown is 12-5. Yeats is currently ranked 60th in the country and has an overall mark of 23-8, winning 18 of 19 matches - inlcuding a 13-match win streak - untill she was stopped twice last weekend. Brown boasts a 20-9 overall mark, second on the team. Her 10-match win streak was halted by Stanford's Gabriela Lastra on March 3. Both records are divided among the third through sixth spots. The pair also team up at the No. 2 doubles position where they have posted a 5-4 dual mark and are 13-8 overall. They debuted in last week's edition of ITA Rankings at No. 44.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Sun Devil tennis program began the season with the new Robson Player Facility. Located on the southwest corner of the existing Whiteman Tennis Center, the spacious facility features new player locker rooms, offices, a training room and a shaded viewing terrace for spectators. Arizona State posted a 8-3 record this year, and over the past four seasons, is 46-16 (.742) when playing in Tempe. This season's losses came to sixth-ranked UCLA on Jan. 29, top-ranked Stanford on March 3 and No. 34 Washington on April 7.
JUNIORS DEVERA AND MCCOURY: Although currently not ranked, juniors Faye DeVera and Celena McCoury have been integral in the team's success this season. DeVera has been playing in the 2-5 slots in singles and is 10-7 in dual matches, 18-17 overall. McCoury has been playing on courts 4-6 during singles and is 8-6 in dual matchs, 16-13 overall. In doubles competition, the two have not been as successful, holding a 1-6 overall mark. As a freshman, DeVera won the Pac-10 Invitational Doubles Championship with teammate Kerry Giardino. McCoury played in Europe last summer, capturing the championship title at a tournament in France.
RECORDS ON THE RISE: The Sun Devils' doubles teams have compiled a 54-23 (.701) overall mark and a 28-15 dual record this year, while ASU has recorded 118 overall singles victories and is 66-40 (.623) in dual play.
SWEEPING THE COMPETITION: On four occasions this season, Arizona State has finished a team match without dropping a set in singles competition, nor going to a tiebreaker in doubles action. The Sun Devils most recently accomplished this feat against in-state rival Arizona on Feb. 26, submitting only 19 sets between six singles matches and three doubles. Arizona State also notched such success over New Mexico, Tulsa and Texas Tech.
ITA Rankings
Team
as of April 19, 2000
| Rk. | Team | Record |
| 1. | Stanford | 23-0 |
| 2. | Georgia | 19-1 |
| 3. | Wake Forest | 19-1 |
| 4. | California | 16-5 |
| 5. | Florida | 18-2 |
| 6. | Pepperdine | 20-4 |
| 7. | Texas | 15-5 |
| 8. | UCLA | 13-7 |
| 9. | Duke | 18-5 |
| 10. | Vanderbilt | 19-4 |
| 11. | ARIZONA STATE | 11-7 |
| 12. | USC | 15-6 |
| 13. | Notre Dame | 19-5 |
| 14. | Mississippi | 15-6 |
| 15. | William & Mary | 18-8 |
| 16. | Northwestern | 17-4 |
| 17. | South Alabama | 19-3 |
| 18. | Tennessee | 16-10 |
| 19. | Baylor | 19-2 |
| 20. | Arizona | 9-10 |
| 21. | South Carolina | 14-10 |
| 22. | Florida State | 15-7 |
| 23. | Clemson | 14-5 |
| 24. | TCU | 18-4 |
| 25. | Washington | 11-9 |
Individual
as of April 12, 2000Singles
| Rk. | Name | Team |
| 1. | Kristina Kraszewski | Washington |
| 2. | Marissa Irvin | Stanford |
| 3. | Laura Granville | Stanford |
| 4. | Zuzana Lesenarova | San Diego |
| 5. | Adria Engel | Wake Forest |
| 15. | Alison Bradshaw | Arizona State |
| 36. | Karin Palme | Arizona State |
| 60. | Megan Yeats | Arizona State |
Doubles
| Rk. | Name | Team | |
| 1. | Lesenarova/Valykova | San Diego | |
| 2. | Catlin/Grey | Georgia | |
| 3. | Curran/Jensen | California | |
| 4. | Senoglu/Palencia | Pepperdine | |
| 5. | Borgersen/Kurimay | California | |
| 23. | Bradshaw/McCoury | Arizona State | |
| 44. | Yeats/Brown | Arizona State |