The No. 23 ASU tennis team (12-6, 3-3) fell to No. 4 UCLA Friday in what was a very competitive match, 4-3.
ASU has now dropped its third straight match, with all three having come against conference opponents ranked in the top-15.
Despite the final result, once again the Sun Devils had some positives to take from moving forward.
In the doubles session, ASU’s No. 3 couple of junior Ebony Panoho and sophomore Alex Osborne defeated UCLA senior Chanelle Van Nguyen and freshman Kristen Wiley, 8-4.
The Sun Devils were unable to get a win in the No. 1 match, but nearly pulled out an impressive victory in the No. 2 match.
Senior Joanna Smith and sophomore Kassidy Jump (the No. 77 ranked doubles pair in the nation) forced juniors Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips (the No. 1 ranked doubles pair) to a tiebeaker before falling 8-7 (8-4).
The Bruins would claim the doubles point, to take a one-point lead early on.
In the singles, the Sun Devils fiercely battled with their opponents, nearly pulling off the upset.
For ASU, Smith defeated McPhillips 1-6, 6-4, 10-8, and Panoho defeated Wiley 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
However, the most notable victory came in the No. 1 match between Krawczyk and Anderson. Anderson came in ranked the No. 1 singles player in the country, while Krawczyk entered as the No. 36 player.
Krawczyk defeated the top player in the nation, in one of her strongest showings of the season, besting Anderson with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
“I’m proud of myself,” Krawczyk said of her accomplishment. “I think I fought really well.”
Despite her individual win, she was noticeably upset about her team’s loss and said that she felt the Sun Devils could have won the match.
“Tomorrow we just need to keep fighting like we did today,” she said. “(USC) is the No. 1 team in the country, so we need to just go out there, play well and compete.”
Tomorrow the Sun Devils will try to ride Krawczyk’s positive momentum when they play the No. 1 USC Trojans at 11 a.m. in Tempe.
Today's results:
Singles
1. Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) def. Robin Anderson (UCLA) — 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
2. Jennifer Brady (UCLA) def. Stephanie Vlad (ASU) — 6-4, 6-2
3. Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) def. Kassidy Jump (ASU) — 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
4. Joanna Smith (ASU) def. Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) — 1-6, 6-4, 10-8
5. Catherine Harrison (UCLA) def. Gussie O’Sullivan (ASU) — 6-0, 6-1
6. Ebony Panoho (ASU) def. Kristin Wiley (UCLA) — 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. Anderson/Brady (UCLA) def. Krawczyk/Vlad (ASU) — 8-2
2. McPhillips/Harrison (UCLA) def. Jump/Smith (ASU) — 8-7 (8-4)
3. Osborne/Panoho (ASU) def. Van Nguyen/Wiley (UCLA) — 8-4
Reach the reporter at kajone31@asu.edu or follow @kaelenjones on Twitter.
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