ASU women’s tennis faced its first true test of the season when it welcomed a pair of top-10 opponents to Tempe: No. 9 Pepperdine on Friday and No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday.
Junior Kelley Anderson continues to roll in singles, Sun Devils nearly upset the Waves
ASU (5-2) earned three-consecutive singles victories on court three, four and six and were on the brink of a monumental upset, but the Waves (5-4) claimed matches on court one and two to win the match, 4-3.
The Sun Devils were emotional after an intense afternoon filled with momentum swings in front of a more raucous than usual crowd at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"Anytime you lose 4-3 with a couple three-setters at the end, it's a tough loss," head coach Sheila McInerney said. "I told the team that we battled really well. Pepperdine is obviously a tough team, we lost a tough doubles point and still battled back. We were really tough in the singles and to our credit, I thought we played tough. You certainly never like to lose, but with that being said, I thought it was a great match.”
Junior Kelley Anderson was the story of the singles competition. She upset No. 17 junior Mayer Sherif Ahmed in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, on court three.
Anderson, who transferred from Baylor before the fall season, has outworked opponents with improved court movement and a fine-tuned forehand, earning high praise from McInerney and her teammates.
Everybody on the team is puzzled that Anderson is not ranked in singles, but a win over a top-20 opponent might get the job done.
Junior Nicole Fossa-Huergo followed up Anderson’s performance with an upset victory of her own, 7-5, 6-3, over No. 51 Laura Gulbe on court four — her first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
Senior Gussie O’Sullivan grinded out a 6-3, 7-5 victory on court six to give ASU a 3-2 lead. That put the match in Jump and sophomore No. 72 Sammi Hampton's hands.
Jump and Hampton both won the first set against No. 6 Luisa Stefani and No. 25 Ashley Lahey respectively, but Stefani and Lahey took control and both won the second and third sets. Jump's loss tied the match at three and Lahey's win clinched the match for Pepperdine, 4-3.
No. 36 Senior Alex Osborne and Fossa-Huergo nearly won the doubles point on court one, but No. 3 senior Christine Maddox and Ahmed won the match in a tiebreak, 7-6(4).
Jump fights Di Lorenzo in the first set, Buckeyes win going away
After almost grabbing an upset over Pepperdine, the Sun Devils could not carry that competitive fight into their match with No. 2 Ohio State and lost 4-0.
The Sun Devils’ have always looked to step on the gas in doubles, but McInerney said she was not pleased with the team’s doubles performance.
"It didn’t seem like we were there from the get go, which is unusual for us,” McInerney said. “This was probably one of the first times that I was disappointed with our doubles ... I thought we made too many unforced errors on (court) one. On (court) two, we didn’t have enough energy, and just cannot get behind 4-0 in a set.”
Video by: Joe Jacquez
Junior Kelley Anderson and freshman Savannah Slaysman lost the first four games and Ohio State’s senior pairing of Gabriella De Santis and Sandy Niehaus won going away, 6-1.
That victory on court two put the Buckeyes in the driver’s seat, and it would come down to matches on court one and three.
No. 36 senior Alex Osborne and junior Nicole Fossa-Huergo fought back from an early deficit against senior Francesca Di Lorenzo and junior Anna Sanford.
Di Lorenzo and Sanford won three consecutive games to take a 4-1 lead after five games, but Osborne and Fossa-Huergo heightened their play, winning the next two games to grab momentum, but they were unable to sustain their great play and lost 6-3.
Ohio State clinched the doubles point. Senior Kassidy Jump and sophomore Sammi Hampton did not finish their match on court three.
Jump wanted to play longer points in singles, work her opponent and pounce on a golden chance and said she did that on Sunday against Di Lorenzo, the best player in the country.
Up 6-5 in the first set, Jump double faulted to force a tiebreak. Jump fought once again, but Di Lorenzo captured the set, 7-6(5). Di Lorenzo took control of the match in the second set and won the second set, 6-0 to clinch the match for Ohio State.
Jump wants her team to practice with the same intensity they showed this weekend.
“We need to play that hard in practice, and we will make ourselves better. It is going to be more of the norm when we play opponents like this,” Jump said.
Anderson, Fossa-Huergo and senior Gussie O’Sullivan did not finish their matches.
Anderson, who took a break after losing the first set, 6-2, said she regained her mental focus to allow her to take the second set, 6-2. Anderson thought she could have earned her 12th consecutive victory if she played out the final set.
“I have high expectations for myself, I came out a little tight today, and sometimes my energy overwhelms my mental side,” Anderson said. “I mean hopefully, I am trying to put in the work and that is the goal, to get ranked.”
Up Next:
The Sun Devils’ will return to practice on Monday to get ready for back-to-back matches next Friday and Saturday against Utah and Colorado.
McInerney said she hopes that big crowds come out to support the team as they open Pac-12 play.
“They were fantastic, our crowds are always good in that they are not obnoxious, but they cheer the right way. It was good, it added a lot of energy to it (the match). We appreciate them coming, hopefully they are going to come back.”
Reach the reporter at jpjacqu1@asu.edu or follow @joejacquezaz on Twitter.
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