May 20, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - An impressive and hard fought run through the NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament came to end Thursday for Arizona State (8-15) in the Round of 16 as they fell to Washington (21-5), 4-2, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia. The unseeded Sun Devils hung tight through out the dual with the No. 4 seeded Huskies, but came up just short in the end.
Unable to pull out the doubles point as they had in the previous two upset wins against LSU and Texas, the Sun Devils were quickly down 1-0. At the No. 1 slot, UW's Claire Carter and Dea Sumantri, the 10th-ranked duo in the county, scored an 8-1 win over ASU's 57th-ranked team of Lauren Colalillo and Kady Pooler. At No. 2 doubles, the same 8-1 score clinched the point for the Huskies as Erin Hoe and Dinka Hadzic downed Wendy Pilecka and Cindy Sureephong.
In singles action, UW soon took a 2-0 lead when Carter won at the No. 1 position in straight sets over ASU's Joslynn Burkett, 6-1, 6-2. ASU then cut the lead to 2-1 when Kady Pooler also won in straight sets at the No. 6 slot over Stephanie Svandfeld, 6-3, 6-1. Capannolo then pulled the Devils even in the dual when she came back from a 6-0 defeat in the first set to top UW's Saskia Nauenberg in three sets, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.
ASU looked to take the lead in No. 3 singles when Sureephong won the first set in a tiebreaker, but then dropped the next two sets to Hoe, 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-4 to give UW the 3-2 edge. Again, the Devils appeared to be in good shape to pull even again at No. 4 singles as Colalillo won the first set. But she struggled in the second set as she dropped it in a tiebreaker, allowing Hadzic to pull out the third set to clinch the dual for the Huskies, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
At No. 44 in ITA Rankings, the Sun Devils were the second-lowest ranked team to ever advance to the Sweet 16 (No. 45 Kansas State was lowest last year). Also, the Sun Devils six wins coming into the tournament were the fewest ever by a participating team since the NCAA expanded the team tournament to a 64-team field in 1999.
Round of 16 Results:
Washington 4
Arizona State 2
Doubles:
1. (10) Carter and Sumantri (UW) def. (57) Colalillo and Pooler (ASU), 8-1
2. Hoe and Hadzic (UW) def. Pilecka and Sureephong (ASU) 8-1
3. Capannolo and Burkett (ASU) vs. Mugette Ahn and Nauenberg (UW) DNF 3-6
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles:
1. (33) Claire Carter (UW) def. (95) Joslynn Burkett (ASU) 6-1, 6-2
2. Wendy Pilecka (ASU) vs. (17) Dea Sumantri (UW) DNF 4-6, 6-2, 3-2
3. (64) Erin Hoe (UW) def. Cindy Sureephong (ASU) 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-4
4. Dinka Hadzic (UW) def. Lauren Colalillo (ASU) 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4
5. Sabrina Capannolo (ASU) def. Saskia Nauenberg (UW) 0-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Kady Pooler (ASU) def. Stephanie Svandfeld (UW) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 6, 5, 3, 4
Quotes From ASU/UW Dual:
Arizona State Head Coach: Sheila McInerney:
"We played pretty good, but it was a disappointing loss. We didn't play well in 1 or 2 doubles but I felt that we really battled back. We won a couple of sets in singles. If some sets had been 3 all it would have helped. I tell my players to walk off the court with no regrets. We played really hard."
Arizona State: Cindy Sureephong #3 singles
"It always hurts when you lose a close one. We didn't have the greatest year but we really busted our butts and competed hard. Unfortunately, they played a little harder than we did."
Washington Head Coach: Patty McCain
(On winning doubles point) "We struggled with doubles all year and we knew that Arizona State would be incredibly tough. This year we've won a ton of matches by having to win 4 singles. "
(On being highest seed on their side of the bracket) "It doesn't matter. Every match is a fight to this finish at this point."