April 18, 2001
ON TAP: Tenth-ranked Arizona State (16-5, 7-5) will take on No. 41 Arizona in its final regular season dual match at 1:00 p.m. (MST) on Saturday in Tempe at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
KEEP IT ROLLIN': ASU has gotten the job done at home, posting a 13-1 dual home record, with its only loss claimed by the Cardinal of Stanford last Friday. The Devils are coming off an impressive win on Saturday over No. 9 California to improve their Pac-10 record to 7-5. ASU boasts five players who have reached the 20-win plateau this season in overall singles play.
The Devils defeated the Cats of Arizona earlier this season in Tucson, 4-3, and have notched five wins in a row and seven of the past eight outings against the Blue and Red.
WORTH WATCHING: ASU sophomore Adria Engel, currently ranked No. 5, leads the Devils' attack this season. Recently, she has defeated No. 14 Sara Walker from UCLA, No. 20 Jewel Peterson from USC, Washington State's No. 34 Erica Perkins, No. 8 Kristina Kraszewski from Washington, Texas' No. 34 Vladka Uhlirova, and Cal's No. 45 Anita Kourimay. Engel, the 2000 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, is currently 17-4 for the Devils on the No. 1 court, having won 16 of her last 18 dual matches. She was also named ITA's National Rookie of the Year before transferring to Arizona State from Wake Forest. ASU's hard-hitting trio of Faye DeVera, Mhairi Brown, and Cindy Sureephong hold a 51-11 (.822) combined dual record on courts No. 4, 5, and 6.
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 271 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: Four ASU players are currently listed in the nation's top rankings by the ITA. In singles action, No. 5-ranked Adria Engel is accompanied by No. 76-ranked teammate Megan Yeats. Engel has earned a 17-4 record on the No. 1 court, and Yeats (21-11) has posted a 13-8 record on the No. 3 court thus far. As a doubles team, the Mhairi Brown/Celena McCoury combo ranks No. 16, and the Adria Engel/Karin Palme tandem posts a No. 34 ranking.