Senior Day found a way to end poetically for the ASU women’s tennis team.
With three matches left to be decided and the score tied 2-2, the No. 23 Sun Devils needed two wins to seal the victory over No. 10 California.
ASU senior Nadia Abdala, junior Michelle Brycki and freshman Hannah James had each of their matches in the third set.
Abdala had taken a 5-3 lead over Cal senior Kasia Siwosz, but Brycki beat her to the punch by winning her third set over Cal freshman Taylor Davis 6-2.
That left the deciding point up to the senior in front of many friends and family.
Abdala clinched the match and the 4-3 team victory with an ace.
“It was tough,” Abdala said. “I was choking. I kept double faulting and I never double fault.”
With flowers in hand and family pictures waiting, Abdala had possibly played her last home match.
She said she will miss the courts and the atmosphere and described her last victory as “a really great feeling.”
But that wasn’t the only exciting moment for the Sun Devils (12-3, 4-1 Pac-10) against the Golden Bears (13-4, 1-1 Pac-10).
The doubles play lasted two hours and needed an extra set to decide the point.
Brycki and freshman Nicole Smith defeated Cal sophomore Stephany Chang and freshman Annie Goransson 8-6 to give ASU one doubles victory, which was followed by an intense 9-7 win by ASU juniors Kelcy McKenna and Ashley Brown over Cal’s Siwosz and Davis.
ASU sophomore Sianna Simmons defeated Chang (6-4, 6-4) for the Sun Devils first singles victory of the day.
“Give Cal credit, because they compete like champs still,” ASU coach Sheila McInerney said. “It was just a really good, tough, hard-fought match.”
The Golden Bears were the second top-ranked opponent for ASU over the weekend.
The team faced No. 12 Stanford (13-1, 2-0 Pac-10) Friday but was unable to capitalize on several first-set wins and fell 6-1.
Brycki was the only Sun Devil to win her match in the Sun Devils’ first home loss of the season.
The victory over Cal was ASU’s third win over a highly-ranked opponent this season — victories that McInerney said are important for her team in different ways.
“You gain confidence, number one, and then people look at you differently, too,” McInerney said. “We’re as good as anybody. The kids have to believe, and I think they really have, and it shows.”
Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu