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ASU women's tennis dominates NAU

The Sun Devils uncharacteristically lost the doubles point but swept singles play to earn the win

ASU junior Kelley Anderson and freshman Savannah Slaysman compete in a doubles match versus UNLA at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe, Arizona on Wednesday, March 22, 2017.
ASU junior Kelley Anderson and freshman Savannah Slaysman compete in a doubles match versus UNLA at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe, Arizona on Wednesday, March 22, 2017.

ASU women’s tennis overcame an usual loss on the doubles courts early and cruised to a 6-1 victory over Northern Arizona on Friday at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe.

After defeating UNLV on Wednesday, the No. 49 Sun Devils (9-5, 2-2 Pac-12) came out sluggish in doubles play. Thus, ASU needed four wins in singles to clinch the overall match.

Senior Alex Osborne and junior Nicole Fossa-Huergo committed too many unforced errors, which cost the 44th-ranked pairing the match on court one.

Osborne said the pair is still searching for consistency.

“Sometimes I am on and sometimes she is off and vice versa,” Osborne said. “We have the potential to be really good, but we need to get more consistent.”

The Lumberjacks clinched the doubles point on court two, when NAU sophomore Hanneke Lodewijks and freshman Brandy Walker  defeated junior Kelley Anderson and freshman Savannah Slaysman in a tiebreak, 6-7(4).

“(I am) really disappointed with how we played doubles,” head coach Sheila McInerney said. “Give NAU credit: their kids were feisty, hungry and energetic. Doubles is all about energy and emotion, and (the Lumberjacaks) really took it to us, and I think our kids were taken aback.”

NAU, who came into Friday afternoon’s match having won nine of their previous 10 matches, felt good about themselves, going into singles play. 

ASU wasn’t fazed — they proceeded to win all six singles matches in straight sets.

Anderson, ranked No. 90 in the latest International Tennis Association singles rankings, tied the match up at one with a resounding 6-1, 6-0 victory over senior Blanka Szavay on court three. Almost simultaneously, Jump finished her match on court one with Lodewijks on court one, giving ASU a 2-1 lead.

Jump’s match was not drama filled, that is until two sets of arguing occurred between the two players over the score of the match. Jump contended that she knew the score, and Lodewijks argued a ball that was supposedly overturned by one umpire was in bounds.  A few points were played, and then the arguing restarted.

For Jump, this appeared to give her all the energy she needed to finish out an uncontested match. McInerney thought Jump handled the situation well.

“It was a little unfortunate that we didn’t have an umpire for every match,” she said. “This match wasn’t on the (original schedule), and there were a lot of local events this weekend. Kass (Kassidy Jump) is very fair, and I give her credit for knowing what the score was and sticking to her guns.”

The Sun Devils were supposed to open the season with NAU in January, but the match was rained out and rescheduled.

The other matches followed a similar script; dominant play in the first set and textbook fundamentals in the second set. Slaysman put the Sun Devils in control with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on court five. Senior Gussie O’Sullivan didn’t drop a game, winning 6-0, 6-0 and clinched the match, 4-1.

The remaining two matches were played out to conclusion. On court four, Fossa-Huergo defeated Walker, and Hampton played her way to a second tiebreak in as many days. 

“With that being said, I thought our kids came out and did a really good job of keeping their cool in the singles, basically dominating every match, certainly every first set.” McInerney said.

Hampton, who reinjured her shin earlier this season in Lubbock, said this season has been a challenge. Nonetheless, she was happy to close out a match.

“Hopefully it will boost my confidence,” Hampton said. “It’s tough when your the only one losing, and you think you should win, but losing forced me to improve and get better.”

Up Next:

The Sun Devils get a week off before hosting the No. 35 Oregon Ducks. Oregon beat No. 32 USC on March 19, the program’s first win over a California school.

“They come with a lot of energy, we beat them up there (in Eugene) last year,” McInerney said. “They pretty much have the same team. Right now, they are undefeated in the conference. Our kids are going to have step up energy wise."


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

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