May 17, 2001
TEMPE, Ariz. -The No. 11 Arizona State (20-5, 5-3) women's tennis team continued its quest for the NCAA Championship by defeating the No. 7 Golden Bears of Cal, 4-2, today at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The Devils advance to tomorrow's 2 p.m. (EST) quarterfinal match against top-ranked Stanford.
"I thought we played very well," said ASU Head Coach Sheila McInerney. "We've played Cal twice this year and both times it was 4-3. Two years ago we played a tough one against them in the round of 16 and that match went 4.5 hours, so we're always ready for a battle with Cal. They're a well coached, well prepared team, and to get a win over them, you know you played well."
ASU won the team point by taking two of the three necessary doubles matches. Megan Yeats and Cindy Sureephong defeated Cal's No. 37 Jieun Jacobs/Nicole Havlicek combo, 8-5, and Faye DeVera and Adria Engel stayed unbeaten this season in dual doubles play (7-0) by besting Cal's Christina Fusano and Catherine Lynch, 8-4.
In singles action, No. 6 sophomore Adria Engel, No. 89 sophomore Megan Yeats, and freshman Cindy Sureephong proved to give the Devils enough steam to clinch the victory. Engel won her 10th straight en route to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Cal's No. 52 Anita Kurimay on the No. 1 court. Yeats outworked No. 48 Raquel Kops-Jones, this year's Pac-10 Champion runner-up, for a 6-2, 7-6(4) victory on the No. 3 court. ASU's Cindy Sureephong, who leads the Devils in dual winning percentage (.913), notched her 21st dual victory over Cal's Nicole Havlicek on the No. 6 court, 6-3, 7-5. ASU seniors Faye DeVera and Karin Palme both fell in two sets, and the Devils had the victory before sophomore Mhairi Brown was able to finish on the No. 5 court.
ASU fell twice to Stanford earlier this year, and McInerney knows the importance of meeting the Cardinal in tomorrow's quarterfinal. "For us, we try to break it down to individuals instead of trying to beat Stanford. We need to come out and be aggressive, and if we do, I feel we can be successful."
The Devils will take on the No. 1 Cardinal of Stanford (26-0) tomorrow at 2 p.m. (EST) at the Lincoln Tennis Center at Georgia State University. Duke and Vanderbilt, Georgia and Southern Cal, and Florida and Washington make up the other six teams left in the hunt.
DOUBLES: 1. (11) Kurimay/Kops-Jones (CAL) def. (12) McCoury/Brown (ASU), 8-1
2. Yeats/Sureephong (ASU) def. (37) Jacobs/Havlicek (CAL), 8-5
3. DeVera/Engel (ASU) def. Fusano/Lynch (CAL), 8-4
SINGLES: 1. (6) Adria Engel (ASU) def. (52) Anita Kurimay (CAL), 6-1, 6-3
2. (62) Christina Fusano (CAL) def. Karin Palme (ASU), 6-3, 6-3
3. (89) Megan Yeats (ASU) def. (48) Raquel Kops-Jones (CAL), 6-2, 7-6(4)
4. Jieun Jacobs (CAL) def. Faye DeVera (ASU), 6-2, 6-3
5. Mhairi Brown (ASU) vs. Catherine Lynch (CAL), DNF
6. Cindy Sureephong (ASU) def. Nicole Havlicek (CAL), 6-3, 7-5
Thursday's NCAA Championships Results #1 Stanford 4, #17 Wake Forest 0 #11 Arizona State 4, #7 California 2 #5 Florida 4, #8 Notre Dame 1 #14 Washington 4, #3 Tennessee 3 #6 Vanderbilt 4, #30 UCLA 1 #2 Duke 4, #13 Texas 2 #10 Southern Cal 5, #9 Northwestern 1 #4 Georgia 5, #18 Baylor 0
Friday's Pairings 8 a.m. #2 Duke vs. #6 Vanderbilt 11 a.m. #4 Georgia vs. #10 Southern Cal 2 p.m. #1 Stanford vs. # 11 Arizona State 5 p.m. #5 Florida vs. #14 Washington
Please visit the features section for a Q&A profile with this year's Pac-10 Champion, ASU's own No.6 sophomore sensation Adria Engel.