May 15, 2004
AUSTIN, Texas -- Arizona State won the doubles point and then clinched the match with three singles victories at Nos. 3, 5 and 6, en route to a 4-1 upset win over No. 19 LSU Saturday afternoon in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Women's Tennis Regional Championship, being held at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center on The University of Texas campus.
The Sun Devils snapped a four-match losing streak with the win, and improved to 7-14 in dual match play. The Devils, the No. 3 seed in the regional, advance to Sunday's second round NCAA action in Austin. ASU will face the winner of No. 1 regional seed and 12th-ranked Texas versus UT-Arlington, which was played later Saturday afternoon.
LSU saw its season end at 18-9. The Lady Tigers were seeded second in the regional and were ranked 19th nationally. LSU was making its 10th consecutive NCAA Championship showing, while ASU, from the powerful Pac-10 Conference, is playing in its 19th NCAA tourney. LSU has not won a NCAA tourney match since 2000.
ASU was led by freshmen Sabrina Capannolo and Kady Pooler, each winning their singles match after being on ASU's two winning doubles teams.
ASU won the doubles point as Pooler and junior Lauren Colalillo, ranked No. 57 nationally in doubles, defeated LSU senior Rocio Fantilli and sophomore Lauren Seaman, 9-7, at No. 1 singles, while Capannolo combined with junior Joslynn Burkett at No. 3 doubles to stop the LSU duo of junior Amanda Mang and sophomore Camila Caliari, 8-2.
At No. 2 doubles, senior Jessica Ferguson and sophomore Marina Chiarelli of LSU won their match (8-4) against the ASU pair of freshman Wendy Pilecka and senior Cindy Sureephong.
With ASU leading 1-0, the two teams split the first two singles matches, as Pooler defeated Caliari, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 singles, before LSU got on the board with 57th-ranked Ferguson's 6-3, 7-5 decision over Burkett at No. 1 singles.
ASU then clinched the match by winning the next two singles points. At fifth singles, Capannolo stopped Seaman (7-5, 6-2) and Sureephong won in a second-set tie-breaker, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) match against LSU's Chiarelli at third singles.
With the match already decided, the second singles and fourth singles matches were not concluded.
ARIZONA STATE HEAD COACH Sheila McInerney
"We've really played a very tough schedule this year, and I think that prepared us well for the NCAAs. I thought our team competed well. It really was a tight doubles point, and by winning that, it gave us some momentum. I know we don't have many wins to show this season, but our conference (Pac-10) is really tough. We'll regroup for tomorrow. If we face Texas, it will be the second time this season we've met, as they beat us here in Austin, 4-3, in March. Both of us have young teams - we go with three freshman in our starting lineup, and they have mainly sophomores and freshmen. So, it will be interesting to see how that is handled."
NCAA Women's Tennis Regional Championships (First Round) at Penick-Allison Tennis Center, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
Saturday, May 15- First Round Match
Arizona State 4, LSU 1
Singles Results (Order of Finish: 6,1,5,3 ... Did not finish: 2,4
No. 1 - Jessica Ferguson (LSU) def. Joselyn Burkett (ASU), 6-3, 7-5 No. 2 - Rocio Fantilli (LSU) - Wendy Pilecka (ASU) -- Did Not Finish No. 3 - Cindy Sureephong (ASU) def. Marina Chiarelli (LSU), 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) No. 4 - Amanda Mang (LSU) - Lauren Colalillo (ASU) -- Did Not Finish No. 5 - Sabrina Capannolo (ASU) def. Lauren Seaman (LSU), 7-5, 6-2 No. 6 - Kady Pooler (ASU) def. Camila Caliari (LSU), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles Results (Order of Finish: 3,2,1)
No. 1 -- Colalillo/Pooler (ASU) def. Fantilli/Seaman (LSU), 9-7
No. 2 -- Ferguson/Chiarelli (LSU) def. Pilecka/Sureephong, 8-4
No. 3 -- Capannolo/Burkett (ASU) def. Mang/Caliari, 8-2
Team Records: Arizona State (7-14); LSU (final record: 18-9)