March 2, 2004
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ON TAP: The Arizona State women's tennis team (3-3; 0-1 Pac-10) continues their eight-match home schedule against top-ranked Stanford (10-0; 1-0 Pac-10) on Friday, March 5 at 1:30 p.m. and No. 9 California (8-3; 1-0 Pac-10) on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. Both duals will not count towards the Pac-10 Conference standings.
LAST TIME OUT: ASU split against the in-state school, shutting out Northern Arizona, 7-0 and falling to Arizona, 5-2. Against NAU, the doubles were quick and decisive as the Devils rallied to three wins with Cindy Sureephong and Wendy Pilecka sealing an 8-1 win with both duos of Lauren Colalillo and Kady Pooler and Sabrina Capannolo and Joslynn Burkett coming in shortly after with an 8-2 score each. Singles also went smoothly for the Devils with four of the six matches won by freshmen alone. Versus the Wildcats, the match started off rough for the Devils as they were unable to secure the doubles point with only the duo of Sureephong and Pilecka taking the only win with an 8-0 defeat of UA's Debbie Larocque and Kelly Perry. In singles play, ASU's Colalillo and Capannolo were the only players able to come up with wins for ASU.
HEAD COACH Sheila McInerney: Sheila McInerney enters her 20th season after leading last year's team to its seventh consecutive (15 of the past 16 seasons) NCAA Round of 16 appearance and a No. 17 national ranking. McInerney also guided Arizona State to eight quarterfinal appearances in her tenure, and has made the NCAA tournament in 18 of her 19 seasons. The 2003 season saw McInerney accomplish another milestone in her illustrious career, earning her 300th career win. She also coached another player to All-American acclaim and helped place four players on the Pac-10 All-Academic teams, tying a school record for most student-athletes selected. McInerney, who owns a career record of 304-182, posted three 20-win seasons (1986, '90, '01) to her credit and guided the Sun Devils to 16 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. The Sun Devils have reached the NCAA quarterfinals eight times under McInerney and have finished in the top-10 five of the past seven seasons and an astounding 13 times in her 19 seasons.
YOUNG/NEW FACES: McInerney welcomes six freshmen players to this year's team. Each player will look to contribute immediately to both the singles and doubles lineups: Ebru Burduroglu (Istanbul, Turkey), Sabrina Capannolo (Las Vegas, Nev.), Wendy Pilecka (Pribram Czech Rep.), Kady Pooler (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), Rebecca Rankin (Purley, England), Vana Tomas (Split Croatia).
HOME SWEET HOME: Over the past six seasons, Arizona State holds an impressive 65-20 (.765) overall dual record at the Whiteman Tennis Center, while posting a 45-14 (.763) mark the past four seasons. The Devils non-conference record is even more impressive over the past six seasons with a 57-12 (.826) mark.
SCHEDULE STRENGTH: Once again the Devils will face a strong non-conference slate (maybe the strongest ever) along with the always powerful Pac-10 Conference. Fifteen of ASU's 21 opponents earned NCAA bids last year, while 15 of ASU's opponents this year are in the top-25. The Pac-10 comprises five of the nation's top-13 teams and six of the nine Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top-18.
DEVILS IN THE RANKINGS: For the first time since the 1996 season, the Sun Devils are not ranked in the top-25 as they fell from No. 25 to No. 33 in the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings, administered by the ITA. The freshmen doubles team of Kady Pooler and Rebecca Rankin are 20th in the country.