March 29, 2001
ON TAP: Thirteenth-ranked Arizona State (12-3, 5-3) will battle the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa this Sunday in Tempe at the Whiteman Tennis Center at 12:00 p.m. (MST).
WORTH NOTING: ASU remains undefeated at home (10-0), and has defeated eight of its ten home foes by a 7-0 sweep. On March 16th, the Devils handed No. 37 UCLA its tenth straight loss and first Pac-10 defeat with a 6-1 victory over the Bruins. On St. Patrick's Day, the Devils dealt the Trojans of USC a 6-1 loss. Last year, ASU defeated Tulsa, 9-0 in Tempe.
WORTH WATCHING: This year, freshman Cindy Sureephong accompanies experienced transfer Adria Engel, who is currently ranked No. 7. Sureephong finished fourth in doubles competition at the 2000 Clay Court Nationals. As a Devil, Sureephong has compiled a 17-3 record while going 13-1 in dual action. Engel defeated No. 14 Sara Walker from UCLA on March 16th and No. 20 Jewel Peterson from USC on March 17th to help keep the Devils' home winning streak alive. Engel, the 2000 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, is currently 12-3 for the Devils on the No. 1 court. She was also named ITA's National Rookie of the Year before transferring to Arizona State from Wake Forest. Also, sophomore Mhairi Brown leads the Devils with a 21-5 record, while going 14-1 on the No. 5 court.
HEAD COACH SHEILA MCINERNEY: In her 17th season as head coach of the Sun Devils, the former USC All-American currently ranks second in ASU school history with 267 wins. McInerney has coached 14 different All-Americans and has guided the Sun Devils to NCAA tournament play each of the past 13 seasons. With the help of three All-Americans last season, McInerney and her squad reached the quarterfinals in the NCAA tournament after knocking off Duke University in the round of 16.
IN THE RANKINGS: Five ASU players are currently listed in the nation's top rankings by the ITA. In singles action, No. 7-ranked Adria Engel is accompanied by No. 63-ranked teammate Megan Yeats and No. 82-ranked Mhairi Brown. Engel has earned a 12-3 record on the No. 1 court, and Yeats (19-7) has posted an 11-4 record on the No. 3 court thus far. As a doubles team, the Adria Engel/Karin Palme tandem posts a No. 23 ranking, and the Mhairi Brown/Celena McCoury combo ranks No. 43.