ASU women’s tennis was more than ready to get the 2017 regular season underway Sunday morning against UC Davis, after taking a rain check on their previous match.
Head coach Sheila McInerney’s squad was supposed to begin dual-match play against NAU on Friday, but heavy afternoon rains forced postponement of the match until a later date.
Primed to hit the court Sunday, the No. 22 Sun Devils shut out the Aggies in front of an engaged crowd in Tempe.
"It was certainly nice to get the win," McInerney said. "I thought we were tentative in the doubles, but that's to be expected in your first match when you're just playing a set. Singles overall was good and we beat people pretty handily."
ASU starts the 2017 regular season 1-0. @statepresssport https://t.co/vMJKkXLdLq
— Joe Jacquez (@joejacquezaz) January 22, 2017
The action got started with three simultaneous doubles matches. Senior Kassidy Jump and her partner sophomore Sammi Hampton went up a break in the second game and cruised to a 6-1 victory.
“It was a fun day and we did a good job,” Jump said.
Meanwhile, on court two, the same story line developed. Junior Kelley Anderson and freshman partner Savannah Slaysman also claimed the first three games. But, the No. 36 pairing in the country finished their match last.
Reigning Pac-12 doubles champion Alexandra Osborne started her season with her new partner, junior transfer Nicole Fossa Huergo. The pairing started the match on serve, but they got down on an early break, 2-0.
“Nicole should have started out serving rather than Alex, it was her (Fossa Huergo) first time on court one, I think she was a little nervous,” McInerney said. “The first game she whiffed on three pretty easy volleys, but it was big for Nicole to hold her serve at 2-1. I felt they were sort of back even, if you lose that game, then you're down 3-1.”
Osborne and Fossa Huergo claimed the final five games and secured the first team point of the match for ASU. At this point, Anderson and Slaysman were one game away from victory, did not complete their match.
POINT! The Devils clinch doubles after Osborne/Fossa-Huergo rally from 0-2 to win 6-2! #ASU up 1-0! pic.twitter.com/p1qRM94wwE
— Sun Devil Tennis (@sundeviltennis) January 22, 2017
Shortly after, singles matches began, and courts one through five were controlled by Arizona State. All five matches ended in straight sets.
Fossa Huergo earned the first point, defeating freshman Kristina Breisacher, 6-3, 6-0. Hampton, ranked No. 49, was off the court next, earning a 6-2, 6-0 victory over junior Jessie Lee. Minutes later, Anderson secured the match for ASU, defeating junior Lani-Rae Green, 6-2, 6-0.
“I didn’t know I was the clinching match, but I am glad I was able to get my win in there,” Anderson said.
Up Next:
Next weekend, ASU travels to Lubbock, Texas for a four-team tournament. On Saturday, ASU will face No. 17 South Carolina. The winner of the tournament earns a bid into the ITA Team Indoor Championships, scheduled for Feb. 10-13 in New Haven, Connecticut.
Reach the reporter at jpjacqu1@asu.edu or follow @joejacquezaz on Twitter.
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