Four singles matches went to three sets, but none of them went ASU's way as the ASU tennis team fell to Pepperdine 6-1 Saturday afternoon.
Coach Sheila McInerney didn’t accept these close matches as a positive aspect to the loss.
“(The match) was certainly closer than 6-1, but certainly you don’t take any pride in being closer than the score in that match,” she said.
Sophomore Stephanie Vlad played against junior Lorraine Guillermo. Over summer, the two of them played and Guillermo got the upper hand.
“I didn’t even win a game,” Vlad said about the summer match against Guillermo. “That loss kind of was like a wakeup call that I needed to get back into shape again and like really motivated me to get more into my tennis.”
Since the summer game, Vlad has risen as high as No. 50 in singles play and is currently ranked No. 73.
Vlad won the first set in Saturday’s match but stumbled in the second.
“Lorraine’s not going to go down easily,” McInerney said. “She’s too good of a player, she has too much pride.”
Guillermo pulled ahead in the third set and won 10-1.
Sophomore Desirae Krawczyk also played in the ITA tournament over summer with Vlad.
Junior Leighann Sahagun played against senior Ale Granillo. After losing the first set 6-1, Sahagun fought for a 7-6 victory in the second set.
“Leighann got off to a slow start,” McInerney said, but added that she competed and played better in the second.
Sahagun eventually lost the tiebreaker set 7-3.
Sophomore Ebony Panoho, on the other hand, started hot. She led her first set 3-0 before sophomore Michaela Capannolo stormed back and won 6-3.
Panoho started off the second set in the hole, but fought back to cut the deficit to 4-3. She eventually lost that set 6-3.
Freshman Gussie O’Sullivan also lost her set 6-3, but won the second 6-2.
“Gussie competed pretty well,” McInerney said. “She won the first but lost the second.”
The third set was a battle, and O’Sullivan fell 10-7.
McInerney changed the doubles lineup on Saturday, moving Krawczyk and freshman Kassidy Jump to the top spot.
“They were playing well,” McInerney said. “I don’t think they’ve lost a match so far; they compliment each other well.”
The lineup change worked in ASU’s favor, and Krawczyk and Jump won their match 8-4.
Sahagun and junior Joanna Smith, who have occupied the No. 1 spot for most of the season, were moved down a slot. They lost to the No. 47 team of Chiang and Capannola.
McInerney said their opponents were very aggressive and played well in the 8-1 Pepperdine victory.
Vlad and Panoho remained in the third spot. McInerney said they played well despite their 8-4 loss.
“They probably had four to five games where they had game points where the score could’ve been switched,” McInerney said.
McInerney didn’t make any excuses for the loss. She said Pepperdine played better and showed they were the better team.
“(Pepperdine) won’t be ranked below us for long,” she said. “Pepperdine’s definitely gotten better since last year, so we gotta do the same if we’re going to compete.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
