April 5, 2007
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This Week
The No. 25 ASU Sun Devil Women's Tennis team return home for
some Pac-10 action this weekend as they host the tenth-ranked
UCLA Bruins on Friday, April 6 at 1:30 p.m. and the seventh-ranked
USC Women of Troy on Saturday, April 7 at noon. Both matches
will be played at ASU's Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe.
Scouting the Bruins
The #10 UCLA Bruins are 12-5 overall and a perfect 3-0 in Pac-10
play as they roll into the valley this weekend. Last weekend saw
the Bruins beat Oregon in a perfect 7-0 outing. The Bruins are returning
fi
ve of six players that came within a point of making the
NCAA Quarter
finals last year, proving them to be a powerhouse
worth reckoning. Last year vs. the Bruins the Sun Devils fell twice
in a 7-0 loss in Tempe and a 6-1 loss in LA
Trojan Horse
The #7 USC Trojans return just as strong with
five returning members
of a 2006 squad that reached the NCAA Semi
finals. Last
weekend saw the Women of Troy also enjoy a perfect 7-0 sweep
of the Ducks in Oregon. They currently sit at 14-2 overall and 3-0
in Pac-10 play. Last year against the Women of Troy the Sun Devils
fell 5-2 both at home and in LA.
Up Next
The Sun Devils will remain home next weekend as they host the Oregon
Ducks, where their former Assistant Coach, Paul Reber is currently
Head Coach. The match will be held in Tempe at the ASU Whiteman Tennis
Center on Saturday, April 14 at noon.
Legends of the Fall
The Sun Devils had a very strong showing during their 2006 fall
season. For the
first time in the program's history, Kady Pooler
and Roxanne Clarke teamed up to win an All-American Doubles
title at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships. They also
currently hold a #8 national ranking going into duel action. At
the ASU/Thunderbird Classic Tournament in late October, senior
Sabrina Capannolo, now ranked No. 90 by the ITA, advanced to
the
final round of the tournament, taking second place.It Takes Two
The Sun Devils' No. 1 doubles team of Kady Pooler and Roxanne
Clarke entered the season ranked No. 8 nationally by the
ITA, and have since risen as high as the No. 6 doubles duo in
the nation before falling to their current rank of 12. The duo of
juniors performed remarkably well during the fall season, collecting
an 8-3 record, as well as winning the
fi rst All-American
Doubles Championship in ASU program history on October 8,
2006 at the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships
over Catrina and Christian Thompson of Notre Dame.
To Be the Best...
As always, the Sun Devils will play one of the toughest schedules
in the country, possibly the toughest in program history this
year, combining a strong non-conference slate with the always
powerful Pac-10 Conference schedule. This year, the Sun Devil's
will face 8 teams currently ranked in the Top-25, including two
matches against No. 1 Stanford, No. 7 Cal and No. 8 USC.
Where they Stack up
In the ITA's tenth poll of 2006, the Sun Devils were ranked
No. 25 as a team. Last year, the Sun Devils
finished ranked
No. 24 in the country after posting an 13-9 overall record
and advancing to the NCAA tournament. It marks the 12th
straight poll that the Devils have been in the top 30.
At The Helm
Coach Sheila McInerney enters her 23rd season at the helm of the
Sun Devil program, the sixth longest tenure of any head coach at ASU,
after leading last year's team to its 19th consecutive appearance in
the NCAA tournament. In her 22 seasons, McInerney has led her team
to 21 berths in the tournament. Prior to the last two year's tournament
rounds, McInerney had led eight straight teams to the Sweet 16.
She holds a career record of 333-211 and has posted three 20-win
seasons in her career. ASU has
fi nished in the top-10 of the nation an
astounding 13 times under McInerney's tutelage.