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ASU women’s tennis seeks to improve on last year’s success

Sophomore Desirae Krawczyk returns the ball with a forehand on April 4. ASU’s Krawczyk and freshman Alexandra Osborne won their doubles match against Colorado 8-4. (Photo by Mario Mendez)
Sophomore Desirae Krawczyk returns the ball with a forehand on April 4. ASU’s Krawczyk and freshman Alexandra Osborne won their doubles match against Colorado 8-4. (Photo by Mario Mendez)

Sophomore Desirae Krawczyk returns the ball Then-sophomore Desirae Krawczyk returns the ball with a forehand on April 4, 2014. ASU’s Krawczyk and then-freshman Alexandra Osborne won their doubles match against Colorado 8-4. (Mario Mendez/The State Press)

The ASU women’s tennis team will partake in its first tournament action of the new calendar year when it faces UC Davis on Saturday in a home match at Whiteman Tennis Center.

The Sun Devils will open regular season play ranked No. 32 in the nation, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

The nine-member team is composed of two seniors, four juniors and three sophomores who provide long-tenured head coach Sheila McInerney with plenty of experience and continuity among her players.

“Overall, I think we’re solid,” McInerney said. "I don’t think the ending (of last season) was as good as we’d have liked (lost in Round of 32), so I think we’re all coming back determined to make the NCAA’s and go further than we did last year.”

McInerney, with 31 years under her belt, has led the Sun Devils to 27 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, finishing with a Top-38 or better ranking in every year under her management. The second-winningest coach in ASU history will look to continue the trend with her group of veterans and budding contributors.

Players have already started to display a growing confidence entering spring play. The group as a whole played well in the fall.

During fall action, junior Ebony Panoho started off strong, which earned her an appearance in the singles semifinal of the Cal Nike Fall Invitational. She would sustain her high-level play throughout the fall period to propel her to the No. 62 position in the latest ITA singles rankings.

“Working hard on the court really helped me this fall,” Panoho said. "I think I can always improve. I can always get faster on the court, hit my serves bigger, hit my shots bigger. So, it’s just about getting everything together.”

No. 37-ranked junior Desirae Krawczyk reached the individual NCAA Tournament and landed second-team All-Pac-12 honors last year. She's expected to continue to lead by example on the court.

“I just work on my game and hopefully get some really good wins,” she said. “I’d like to do a little better than I did last year and help the team win some good matches.”

After leading the team in both singles and doubles wins, the lefty will be expected to continue her dominant play during the spring season.

Alongside Krawczyk, junior Stephanie Vlad and senior Leighann Sahagun will also be relied upon to perform well and provide experience to the squad.

“I built a lot of confidence last season,” Vlad said. “I’m hoping to carry it through this coming weekend and throughout the season.”

The Sun Devils have an interesting season ahead, with matches scheduled against nine teams currently ranked within the top 35. Five of those challengers — Stanford, Cal, UCLA, USC and Arizona — are Pac-12 conference foes.

“We pride ourselves on always playing a good schedule,” McInerney said. “It’s how kids get better, and that’s why you’re in athletics, really — it’s to compete against the best.”

Their opposition possesses notable talent as well, as 10 of their opponents feature at least one player currently ranked in the top 100 singles players in the country.

McInerney’s track record and the increasingly confident players certainly provide a positive outlook for the season moving forward as the team will look to improve upon the success it enjoyed last season.

“I think they’re motivated,” McInerney said. “I think they’re excited, and it’s a group that’s gotten a lot better. Physically and mentally, they’ve learned a lot.”

 

Reach the reporter at kajone31@asu.edu or follow @kaelenjones on Twitter.

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