No. 26 ASU women’s tennis will enter the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament at Ojai Valley Athletic Club in Ojai, California with momentum on its side.
The Sun Devils (14-6, 7-3 Pac-12) finished the regular season third in the Pac-12 standings for the first time in program history and won seven of their last eight regular season matches.
ASU earned a first-round bye as the tournament’s third seed behind No. 6 Stanford (18-2, 10-0 Pac-12) and No. 16 Cal (15-4, 8-2 Pac-12). They will square off in quarterfinal action against six-seed USC. The Trojans (12-9, 7-3 Pac-12) shutout 11-seed Washington State 4-0, as part of Wednesday’s first round action.
"We've been playing well," head coach Sheila McInerney said. "I am expecting us to play well and we're going to have to battle hard because USC is a very good team."
USC has three doubles pairings ranked inside the top-80 and three singles players ranked inside the top-125. The Trojans ended the regular season with a victory over in-state rival UCLA. Fans should expect fierce competition from the first serve till the last winner.
ASU lost a heartbreaking match to the then-No. 39 Trojans two weeks ago.
The contest came down to a deciding third set in singles on court four between junior Nicole Fossa-Huergo and USC senior, then-No. 113 Zoe Katz. Fossa-Huergo took a 4-3 lead after seven games, but a
“I think the doubles you never know,” McInerney said. "USC is very strong in singles. We won the doubles point and then they won four of the six singles matches (in the regular season)."
Under McInerney’s leadership, the Sun Devils have appeared in 29-straight NCAA Tournaments and 32 overall. Of those 32 appearances, ASU advanced to the quarterfinals eight times and made 18 trips to the Sweet 16.
Senior Kassidy Jump said she is excited for the rematch against the Trojans.
“Yeah I'm really excited for the rematch,” Jump said. "Last time we played them it was a super close match and it was a bit of a heart-breaker to lose it. So I think we're all really excited for tomorrow's match and looking to get some revenge."
Osborne echoed Jump, saying she is ready for her doubles match. She also mentioned the excitement around what will be the first-ever team Pac-12 women's tennis tournament.
"It was probably the most exciting and fun game of doubles we've played all year together," Osborne said of the USC regular season match. "It was great playing at home and having the crowd there. But having it now in this kind of setting is even more exciting especially because it is the first Pac-12 team tournament ever so it's exciting to know we are playing for that as well."
If ASU is to defeat USC on Thursday, the Sun Devils would then face the winner of California and Washington. Ranked 26th nationally, ASU seems positioned to compete for a national championship after the Pac-12 competition this weekend, but McInerney said the team must take things one step at at time.
The @Pac12 bracket is set! @TheSunDevils will play the winner of Wednesday's USC vs. Washington State matchup! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/Pet4P6PRZ7
— Sun Devil Tennis (@sundeviltennis) April 24, 2017
The postseason presents a different set of challenges, according to McInerney.
“This isn't the very postseason, that is the NCAA Tournament but it is one and done,” McInerney said. "Once you're done with this tournament, the conference season is over with and you prepare for the NCAAs."
ASU's quest for a conference crown will begin at 11 a.m. PT. Fans can find the results of the match here.
Reach the reporter at jpjacqu1@asu.edu or follow @joejacquezaz on Twitter.
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