No. 30 ASU women’s tennis has struggled to find a flow, but Saturday afternoon’s 6-0 victory over San Diego State University at the Aztec Tennis Center helped them find a rhythm.
The Sun Devils’ (4-1) had two matches rained out earlier this month, against NAU Jan. 20, and UNLV Feb. 19, respectively, and head coach Sheila McInerney said the next two weekends would help the team find a rhythm and get ready for a schedule filled with tough opponents.
"We were lucky to get that one match in last weekend, and I think the girls are looking forward to playing in two more matches, knock on wood with the weather, this weekend," McInerney said, speaking to thesundevils.com on Thursday. "It gets you into a rhythm, and I think any athlete wants that. You'd rather play matches than practice at this point."
Doubles has not been an issue for ASU this season, and their strong play continued against the Aztecs.
Senior Kassidy Jump and sophomore Sammi Hampton once again finished first, defeating freshman Alli Valk and senior Olivia Larsson of SDSU on court three, 6-1.
For the first time since the Michigan Invitational, the pairing of junior Kelley Anderson and freshman Savannah Slaysman finished a match, defeating senior Kennedy Davis and freshman Mia Smith of the Aztecs on court two, 6-2. Anderson and Slaysman earned their 11th win of the 2016-17 season and claimed the doubles point, giving ASU a 1-0 lead.
DOUBLES UPDATE:
— Sun Devil Tennis (@sundeviltennis) February 25, 2017
Court 3: @SammiHampster & @kassidyjump win 6-0
Court 2: @savslaysman & @Kelley_BU win 6-2#ASU up 1-0! #ForksUp
Senior Alex Osborne and junior Nicole-Fossa Huergo, ranked No. 36 in the first computerized ITA doubles rankings, did not finish their match against Jana Buth and Paola Diaz on court one.
McInerney was pleased with her team’s performance in singles and doubles.
"I thought we played well today," McInerney said. "We came out and played good, solid doubles and did the same in singles. We committed very few unforced errors, which was good. Nice to get the win and excited to play again tomorrow.”
When the match moved to singles play, Slaysman made it 2-0 ASU, after she defeated Larsson on court five, 6-0, 6-1. Fossa-Huergo extended her team’s lead to 3-0, defeating Smith, 6-2, 6-2.
Anderson clinched the match for ASU, with a decisive 6-4, 6-0 win over Diaz. The Baylor University transfer earned her 11th-straight singles victory. Earlier this month, Anderson said she's been playing the best tennis of her collegiate career.
For the second straight match, senior Gussie O’Sullivan did not have to grind an opponent, earning a straight sets victory, 6-2, 6-0, over Aztec freshman Berta Acero. No. 79 Kassidy Jump was the last Sun Devil to finish a match, but she battled against Buth. Jump lost the first set, 3-6, but won the second, 7-5 and the deciding tiebreak, 10-4.
Hampton, who is ranked 72nd in the country, won the first set against Davis, 6-2, but the match was halted in the second set, with Hampton down 5-4.
Up Next:
The Sun Devils will face the University of San Diego on Sunday afternoon. First serve is set for noon PST (1:00 p.m. MST) at the Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center.
The match against the Toreros will complete ASU’s first back-to-back set since Jan. 28-29 at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Lubbock, Texas.
Reach the reporter at jpjacqu1@asu.edu or follow @joejacquezaz on Twitter.
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