March 28, 2006
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Coming off of a huge win against rival Arizona and riding the momentum of a four-match win streak, the No. 13 Arizona State Sun Devils will be looking for a bit of retribution as they travel to Southern California for rematches against the No. 16 UCLA Bruins on Friday and the No. 3 USC Trojans on Saturday. Both duals are Pac-10 Conference matches.
The Match-Up
The No. 16 Bruins enter the match with a 10-2 record overall (2-0 Pac-10). In their match last weekend, the Bruins defeated Hawaii Pacific (Div. II) 7-0 in Hawaii. UCLA, ranked No. 11 at the time, defeated the Sun Devils 7-0 on Feb. 25 at the Whiteman Center. The Bruins currently enjoy a 29-12 advantage in the season series.
The No. 3 Trojans own an 11-2 record on the year and are coming off a victory against No. 59 Illinois, 6-1, last Wednesday. The Trojans, ranked No. 4 at the time, handed the Devils their first loss of the season, 5-2, at the Whiteman Center on Feb. 24. USC has won the last seven matches in the all-time series and currently leads 25-19.
Last Time Out
The Sun Devils earned a kachina trophy with a victory over rival No. 25 University of Arizona, 5-2. After dropping the doubles point, the Sun Devils rallied back to win five of six singles matches, including impressive two-set victories by Capannolo and Leitch, to win their fourth straight match.
Up Next
The Devils stay on the road for another week, traveling to the Pacific Northwest for a pair of conference matches with the Washington schools. They will face the WSU Cougars in Pullman on April 7 and the Washington Huskies on April 8 in Seattle.
Clarke Honored By Pac-10 Again
Junior Roxanne Clarke was again honored by the Pac-10, this time for singles, as the Conference's Player of the Week for March 20 - 26. No. 98 Clarke defeated Arizona's No. 54 Danielle Steinberg, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). This was Clarke's first Pac-10 Player of the Week honor on the singles court and second weekly honor all-time for Arizona State. Clarke and her doubles teammate, Kady Pooler, were named Conference Players of the Week as a doubles team on Feb. 27.
To Be the Best...
The Sun Devils are without a doubt playing one of the toughest, if not the toughest, schedule in the country this year, combining a difficult non-conference slate with the powerhouses that form their schedule in the Pac-10 South. The Sun Devils have only one matches left against teams not ranked in the ITA top 75 and have four remaining against top 25 teams, including numbers 1, 3, and 10. The Sun Devils have played four matches against top 10 teams (1-3) and will play three more against teams currently ranked up there. Against top 25 teams this season, the Devils are owners of a 4-4 record.
Where they Stack up
In this week's Fila ITA poll, ASU has climbed back up at No. 13. It marks the 14th straight poll in which the Sun Devils have been in the top 30 and their 11th straight in the top 25.
It Takes Two
The Sun Devils' No. 1 doubles team of Kady Pooler and Roxanne Clarke are having a season for the record books so far. Through 14 matches, they have posted a 20-5 record and became just the fourth doubles team in school history to reach the 20-win plateau, putting them in some very elite company. They currently rank number one all-time for single-season winning percentage with a .800 mark. Here's a look at the top 10 doubles teams in school history:
TOP DOUBLES TEAMS IN ASU HISTORY
Season Natl Rank Ovr. Record Win Pct.1. Kady Pooler/Roxanne Clarke 2006 #31 20-5 .800
2. Kori Davidson/Meredith Geiger 1994 #6 18-5 .783
3. Cindy Sureephong/Megan Yeats 2001 #35 22-7 .759
4. Allison Bradshaw/Celena McCoury 2000 #14 17-5 .739
5. Katy Propstra/Stephanie Lansdorp* 1998 #10 22-8 .733
6. Carol Coparanis/Laura Glitz 1986 -- 19-7 .731
7. Kori Davidson/Kara Schertzer 1993 -- 18-7 .720
8. Katy Propstra/Stephanie Lansdorp 1997 #15 16-9 .640
9. Mhairi Brown/Celena McCoury 2001 #17 21-14 .600
10. Katy Propstra/Allison Bradshaw* 1999 #11 18-14 .563
* Earned All-American Honors in Doubles
Individual Rankings
The Sun Devils have two ranked singles players currently and one ranked doubles team. No. 98 Roxanne Clarke stayed at the same position since the March 7 poll and No. 116 Sabrina Capannolo dropped 46 spots after breaking her slide against Houston.
Honors for Coach Mac
Sheila McInerney was named the Phoenix Womens Sports Association's 2005 Female Coach of the Year at the university level. She will be honored on Feb. 11 at the PWSA's annual banquet which corresponds with the end of ASU's Women and Girls in Sports Week. McInerney was honored not only for her accomplishments during her 22 seasons at ASU, but also for her contribution to "helping girls and women find their power through sports."
At The Helm
Coach Sheila McInerney enters her 22nd season at the helm of the Sun Devil program, the seventh longest tenure of any head coach at ASU, after leading last year's team to its 18th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. In her 21 seasons, McInerney has led her team to 20 berths in the tournament. Prior to last year's exit in the second round, McInerney had led eight straight teams to the Sweet 16. She holds a career record of 330-206 and has posted three 20-win seasons in her career. ASU has finished in the top-10 of the nation an astounding 13 times under McInerney's tutelage.
25 Years of Women's Championships
The NCAA is celebrating the 2005-2006 athletic season as the 25th anniversary of the Division I, II, and III women's tennis championships. The NCAA first began sponsoring women's championships in 1981 when field hockey, swimming, cross country, volleyball, gymnastics, basketball, golf, lacrosse, rowing, softball, and track, as well as tennis, recognized their first NCAA champions. Today, the NCAA sponsors 44 women's championships in 20 sports, providing more than 150,000 women with an opportunity to compete for national titles each year.