April 25, 2001
ON TAP: The eleventh-ranked Arizona State (17-5, 5-3) women's tennis squad will send its best this weekend to compete in the singles and doubles Pac-10 Championships and Invitational in Ojai, California.
THIS WEEKEND: ASU sophomore Adria Engel, ranked No. 8 in the nation at the end of regular season dual play, tops the Pac-10 singles draws as the No. 1 overall seed. She will be accompanied by Megan Yeats and Faye DeVera in the singles championship brackets. In the doubles brackets, fourth-seeded Mhairi Brown and Celena McCoury will be accompanied by Cindy Sureephong and Megan Yeats. In the Pac-10 Invitational, top-seeded Mhairi Brown, Jennifer Baker, Cindy Sureephong, and Celena McCoury will participate in singles action, while top-seeded Adria Engel and Faye DeVera will battle in the doubles invitational. Both singles rounds will begin on Thursday, while doubles rounds will start on Friday. Results will be posted daily.
NOT TOO SHABBY: ASU finished its home season play with an outstanding 14-1 record, wrapping up season dual play on Sunday with a 5-2 victory over the Wildcats of Arizona. The Devils finished fourth in the Pac-10 behind USC, Washington, and Stanford.
WORTH NOTING: ASU sophomore Adria Engel, currently ranked No. 8, leads the Devils' attack this season. Recently, she 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, finished 18-4 for the Devils on the No. 1 court, having won 17 of her last 19 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 rounded out the season with a 53-12 (.815) 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 272 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 finished in the nation's top rankings by the ITA. In singles action, No. 8-ranked Adria Engel is accompanied by No. 74-ranked teammate Megan Yeats. Engel has earned an 18-4 record on the No. 1 court, and Yeats (22-11) has posted a 14-8 record on the No. 3 court thus far. As a doubles team, the Mhairi Brown/Celena McCoury combo ranks No. 18, and the Cindy Sureephong/Megan Yeats tandem records its first national ranking at No. 46.