May 11, 2005
ON TAP: For the 20th time in school history and the 18th consecutive year, the Arizona State University women's tennis team (10-7) will compete in the NCAA first and second round regionals. The Sun Devils, the No. 2 seed, will travel to Los Angeles to face No. 3 seed San Diego State (16-10) in a first-round match up on Friday, May 13 at 9:00 a.m.
REGIONAL INFO.: Host and the regions top-seed USC (16-3) is the No. 7 seed (out of 16 seeded teams) in the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 4 seed Illinois-Chicago (13-10) in their first-round dual at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. The two first-round winners will meet on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the round of 32 (second round). Saturday's winner will advance to the 2005 NCAA National Championships (Sweet 16), held Thursday-Sunday, May 19-22, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., on the campus of the University of Georgia. For live scoring of the duals, log onto www.usctrojans.com.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY: This is Arizona State's 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and holds a 21-19 overall record ... ASU is one of only five schools (Stanford, Duke, Georgia, Tennessee) to have reached the NCAA Sweet 16 or better for the past eight years ... before the current NCAA system went into place in 1982, ASU won the national championship in 1971, 1972 and 1974 ... ASU has advanced out of its regional the last six years by a combined score of 58-7 ... ASU's best finish in the current format: Eight quarterfinals (1986, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001).
DYNAMIC DUO: Sophomore Kady Pooler and senior Lauren Colalillo have combined to win 22 of their 29 dual singles this year. Pooler has won 14 of her past 17 duals, while Colalillo has won eight of her 12 duals (all in straight sets except one). Currently ranked 27th in doubles, the pair are also excelling as the Devils' No. 1 team. Overall, Pooler and Colalillo are 12-7 (won seven of their last 10 duals), including impressive wins over No. 3 UCLA (Bercek/Zalameda), No. 15 Oregon (Dieskova/Panova) and No. 18 Texas (Ruckert/Strohm).
MORE POSTSEASON ACTION: Pooler and Colalillo earned one of the 32 bids to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship, while Sabrina Capannolo gained one of the 64 spots in the singles championship. The competition will take place, May 19-22 in Athens.
AT THE HELM: Sheila McInerney is in her 21st season at the helm of the Sun Devil program after leading last year's team to its eighth consecutive (18 of the past 20 seasons) NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2004. McInerney has also guided Arizona State to eight quarterfinal appearances in her tenure, and has made the NCAA tournament in 20 of her 21 seasons. McInerney, who owns a career record of 319-201, posted three 20-win seasons (1986, '90, '01) to her credit and guided the Sun Devils to 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. ASU has finished in the Top-10 five of the past eight seasons, and an astounding 13 times in her 20 seasons.
REBER GARNERS HONOR: For the second time in the past five years, Assistant Coach Paul Reber has been honored as the 2005 ITA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year. Reber, in his ninth season at ASU, also earned the award in 2001.
SCHEDULE STRENGTH: Once again, ASU played a strong non-conference slate along with the always powerful Pac-10 Conference. Nine of ASU's last 14 opponents carried Top-25 rankings, while 15 of ASU's 20 opponents earned NCAA bids to last year's tournament (five to the Round of 16/four to the quarterfinals). Also, 11 of ASU's 2005 opponents are currently in the Top-25, including four of the Top-10 teams. Twelve of the is year's opponents made the tournament.
DEVILS IN THE RANKINGS: The Sun Devils are No. 30 in the May 2 ITA computer rankings. In doubles, the team of Colalillo and Pooler hold a No. 27 ranking, while the duo of Burkett and Pilecka are No. 51. Additionally, Capannolo keeps climbing up the singles ranking as she comes in at a career-high No. 46, Leitch checks in at No. 121 while Burkett comes in right behind at No. 123.