The ASU women's tennis team will send seven players to the Pac-10 Championships, which start today and run through Sunday in Ojai, Calif.
ASU's best chances come in the doubles team of senior Lauren Colalillo and sophomore Kady Pooler. The tandem is ranked 24th nationally and sports an 11-7 record.
Colalillo and Pooler have triumphed over several touted doubles teams, including sophomore Daniela Bercek and freshman Riza Zalameda of UCLA. They'll open the Pac-10 Championships against freshman Ekaterina Burduli and senior Nora Gaal of Washington State.
Pooler will join senior Joslynn Burkett and sophomore Sabrina Capannolo in the 32-player singles championship bracket. Pooler has won 14 of her last 17 singles matches. Capannolo advanced to the Sweet Sixteen at last year's Pac-10 Championships. Burkett accomplished the feat two years ago.
FYI
Where: Ojai, Calif.
When: Today through Sunday.
Format: 32-player singles and doubles championship and invitational brackets.
Men's Players: Mike Beatty, Christopher Biro, Andy Colombo, Nick Hegarty, Jonathan Kinsella, Clint Letcher and Ryan McBride.
Women's Players: Joslynn Burkett, Sabrina Capannolo, Lauren Colalillo, Jessica Leitch, Kady Pooler, Rebecca Rankin and Vana Thomas.
More Info: Visit www.pac-10.org.
Sophomores Rebecca Rankin and Vana Thomas and freshman Jessica Leitch will compete in the singles invitational bracket. Capannolo and Leitch will form a doubles team, as will Burkett and Rankin.
Winners at the Pac-10 Championships receive a medal and they'll have their names inscribed on a trophy that's displayed at the tournament every season.
Men's tennis
Five days after a dramatic win over UA in the regular-season finale, the ASU men's tennis team heads to the
Pac-10 Championships. Like the women's tournament, the men's draw opens today in Ojai.
Seniors Andy Colombo and Clint Letcher and sophomores Jonathan Kinsella and Christopher Biro will compete in the singles championship bracket.
Letcher paces the group with a 10-10 dual record. He's one of 18 Pac-10 players in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association top-125 national rankings.
Junior Ryan McBride, sophomore Nick Hegarty and freshman Mike Beatty will compete in the singles invitational bracket. McBride boasts an 8-5 record in dual matches. Hegarty is 10-9.
The Sun Devils will field a pair of doubles teams in the championship bracket in Colombo and Beatty and Letcher and Kinsella. ASU's duo of McBride and Hegarty will compete in the doubles invitational bracket.
Reach the reporters at thomas.j.kelley@asu.edu and michael.fowler@asu.edu.
