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Patience paying off on court No. 1 for ASU women's tennis senior

Kassidy Jump is slightly modifying her playing style after stepping into the top spot in the Sun Devils' lineup

ASU senior Kassidy Jump competes in a singles match against Nevada at the Whitemans Tennis Center in Tempe, Arizone on Friday Feb. 17, 2017.
ASU senior Kassidy Jump competes in a singles match against Nevada at the Whitemans Tennis Center in Tempe, Arizone on Friday Feb. 17, 2017.

ASU women’s tennis senior Kassidy Jump has always looked to be aggressive in singles, but the Granite Bay, California native started to focus on staying patient.

Jump went through two recent rough patches at the Michigan and Texas Tech Invitationals, but on Friday, Feb. 17, she defeated No. 67 Claudia Herrero Garcia of Nevada in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, and clinched the match for the Sun Devils.

“This weekend was a little tough because it was super windy, but it made me focus more on my game, I couldn’t just go for a bunch of winners,” Jump said. “Overall, I played really well and was more patient in that match, and that is what I need to get back to.”

Jump said playing on court number one is just a spot in the lineup, but despite this, all seven of her singles losses have come against ranked opponents.

Head coach Sheila McInerney, who was a four-time All-American player at USC, knows all about facing a team’s best athlete every match, but said playing on court one is a goal every tennis player should have.

“The bottom line is when you’re playing one, I don’t care what school or conference you’re at, there are a lot of good players throughout the country, nothing is going to be easy for Kass (Jump),” McInerney said. “You just got to keep practicing hard and realize you’ve got a lot of opportunities. If you look to get better every day, then good things will happen.”

Jump, who finished with a 23-14 singles record last season, has a power serve and forehand — a deadly combination for any player. She has always been a good ball striker, but McInerney, along with assistant coach Matt Langley and graduate assistant coach Ebony Panoho, has worked with Jump on ball tolerance.

“She (Jump) is a really good ball striker, but against really good players, you’re not going to win the point in two or three shots, you’re going to have to get to six, seven shots in a rally,” McInerney said.

Panoho added that Jump is part senior core that she's helped develop as both a player and a coach. Patience is part of that development for Jump to win on court one.

"I want want them to stick around and be successful," Panoho said. "Guss (O'sullivan), Kass (Jump), Alex (Osborne), I just want to see them have the best senior seasons possible."

Jump wrapped up the fall season with a win at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in November and opened the regular season on Jan. 20 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kristy Jorgensen of UC Davis. But, Jump lost her next two matches against No. 99 Mia Horvit of South Carolina and No.15 Gabriela Talaba of Texas Tech University.

During practice on Monday, Jump worked on keeping the ball in play and waiting out the rally with fellow-senior Gussie O’Sullivan, who is known for grinding out every point.

“Gussie does not miss many balls, and it’s the type of game that Kassidy does not love,” McInerney said. “She will have to hit six or seven balls, so I think it is a good thing for sure.”

Jump’s competition will only get tougher in the coming weeks and months. ASU will face No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Stanford, No. 8 Pepperdine and No. 9 California. She will face No. 7 Luisa Stefani of Pepperdine on March. 3 and go on to face the No. 1 player in the country Francesca Di Lorenzo of Ohio State on March. 5, according to the ITA’s latest singles rankings.

No matter who she faces, Jump said she will focus on her game, stay patient and take advantage of winners when they come.

“Everybody is good, even if they’re not ranked, I just have to focus on my game,” Jump said.


Reach the reporter at jpjacqu1@asu.edu or follow @joejacquezaz on Twitter.

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