Coming off two hard-fought matchups against top ten competition last weekend, No. 40 ASU women’s tennis opened Pac-12 play against Utah on Friday and Colorado on Saturday.
The Sun Devils swept the weekend with two shutout victories to start its conference schedule on a high note.
Sun Devils start weekend with victory over the Utes
On Friday afternoon, ASU opened conference play with a 4-0 clinch-clinch shutout of the Utes at Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe.
The final score was not indicative of how both teams played. Utah (3-2, 0-1) gave ASU (6-3, 1-0) all they could handle in five of six singles matches, but head coach Sheila McInerney’s squad took care of business.
“Utah is not going to go away, they compete very well, and we expect that,” McInerney said. “It was a dog fight with them last year, and today’s match, while it was 4-0, that is how those matches are. That happens a lot where the match is lot more competitive than the score indicates.”
McInerney was not pleased with her team’s effort in doubles against Ohio State on March 5, but the 2016 Pac-12 Conference Coach of the Year said all three pairs were ready for first serve this weekend.
“I thought the doubles was pretty good,” McInerney said. “We got off to a good start on number one, but we made a few unforced errors to let (Utah) back into the match. We ended up winning it, which was nice."
Junior Kelley Anderson and freshman Savannah Slaysman lost two of the first three games of their doubles match, but the first-year pairing won five games in a row and secured a 6-2 victory over Utah junior Jena Cheng and sophomore Taylor Calton.
Shortly thereafter, senior Alex Osborne and junior Nicole Fossa Huergo, ranked No. 44 in the latest International Tennis Association doubles rankings got the job done as well with a 6-4 victory.
Osborne and Fossa Huergo’s win clinched the doubles point for ASU, and a 1-0 overall match lead heading into singles. Senior Kassidy Jump and sophomore Sammi Hampton were up 5-3, but they did not finish on court three.
When the match moved to singles play, Jump did not waste any time on court one. She easily defeated Utah junior Margo Pletcher, 6-0, 6-1. Jump controlled every point, frustrating Pletcher throughout with a powerful serve and determined forehand.
“I got on her quick in the first set, I could see she was getting frustrated," Jump said. "For the most part, the points she was winning, were my mistakes. I knew that if I just stayed on her and tried to limit the mistakes, I could just continue what I did in the first set.”
Senior Gussie O’Sullivan gave ASU a 3-0 lead after defeating sophomore Brianna Turley, 6-1, 6-3.
Fossa Huergo clinched a 4-0 shutout with a 7-5, 6-2 victory, even in unusual conditions for her.
"I am from Italy and the weather is not that hot," Fossa Huergo said. "I started out good, but then I made some unforced errors. I started to be more focused near the end of the first set and the second set I focused on each point and it was much easier.”
O’Sullivan clinches match, Sun Devils cruise past Colorado in under two hours
For the second straight day, ASU women’s tennis (7-3, 2-0) secured 4-0 shutout victory, this time easily defeating Colorado.
With temperatures in the high-80s for most of the afternoon, both teams decided to play clinch-clinch once again. ASU (6-3, 2-0) remained undefeated against the Buffaloes (8-5, 0-2) in program history with the win.
Despite the lopsided result, head coach Sheila McInerney again said the scoreboard didn't tell the entire story.
“We had some battles, Kassidy (Jump) had a battle, Kelley (Anderson) had a battle, both were in the third set. A 4-0 score can be pretty deceiving, but we were obviously in control of the match.”
Senior Gussie O’Sullivan made quick work of Colorado sophomore Brigitte Beck, 6-1, 6-0, on court six, clinching the match for her team.
O’Sullivan — who earned her sixth-consecutive singles victory — and Beck are both natives of Melbourne, Australia. They've been friends for years.
“It’s always good to clinch a match, especially the second match of conference (play), which is really nice,” O’Sullivan said. “I played against a girl I grew up with in Australia. It’s always tough to play a friend, but it was great to get the win.”
After clinching Friday’s win over Utah, junior Nicole Fossa Huergo finished her singles match, defeating Colorado freshman Chloe Huele, 6-1, 6-2. Sophomore Sammi Hampton made it 3-0 for the Sun Devils with a convincing 6-3, 6-0, victory over junior Louise Ronaldson.
Freshman Savannah Slaysman, junior Kelley Anderson, and senior Kassidy Jump all had their respective matches abandoned.
Up Next:
ASU will have its hands full next weekend. The Sun Devils travel to California to face No. 14 Stanford and No. 12 Cal on Friday and Saturday respectively.
Reach the reporter at jpjacqu1@asu.edu or follow @joejacquezaz on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
