After a two-month break, the ASU women’s tennis team had a strong start at the Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas, but quickly faded in singles play.
Four Sun Devils won their opening matches in singles play and advanced to the second round, but only one made it to the third.
Junior Michelle Brycki started off the tournament with an easy 6-1, 6-1 victory over North Carolina freshman Tessa Lyons. She then defeated Oregon senior Pavlina Smatova with a 6-4, 6-3 win to move on to the quarterfinals.
On Saturday, Brycki fell to the No. 3-seeded USC senior and eventual tournament champion Maria Sanchez (6-2, 6-1).
ASU coach Sheila McInerney said that Brycki’s performance on Friday was good, but thought she could have had a better performance on Saturday.
“I would have liked to see Michelle a little more competitive in the match she lost, but Sanchez is a good player,” McInerney said. “It was a good tournament for her.”
Sanchez was a tough match because of her power and smarts, Brycki said.
“I’ve never had an opportunity to play against a highly-ranked player like she is,” Brycki said. “If I want to beat players like that I need to be more disciplined and learn consistency.”
The second round was tough on Brycki’s teammates.
ASU senior Kelcy McKenna lost to Stanford freshman Nicole Gibbs (6-4, 7-5), sophomore Hannah James fell to Florida junior Joanna Mather (6-2, 6-1) and senior Micaela Hein was upset by North Carolina junior Shinann Featherston in three sets (4-6, 6-2, 7-5).
The No. 20 Sun Devils fared better in doubles play over the weekend as two out of three ASU doubles teams advanced to the semifinals.
Senior Ashlee Brown and junior Sianna Simmons paired up and defeated the No. 8-seeded North Carolina team of Featherston and sophomore Lauren McHale (8-6) in the first round.
McKenna and Hein beat Stanford sophomore Natalie Dillon and freshman Elizabeth Ecker (8-1) to advance.
The Sun Devils also faired well in the doubles quarterfinals.
Brown and Simmons moved on to defeat UNLV sophomore Nives Pavlovic and senior Anna Maskaljun (8-4) on Saturday.
Then the duo of McKenna and Hein took an 8-3 victory over the Florida team of Mather and sophomore Lauren Embree.
Both doubles teams hit a wall in the semifinals as they fell to their opponents on Sunday. Brown and Simmons dropped their match to UCLA junior McCall Jones and senior Maya Johansson (8-1), and McKenna and Hein were defeated 8-5 by the USC team of Sanchez and freshman Kaitlyn Christian.
“Overall we competed pretty well,” McInerney said. “The competition in this tournament is really strong, but it’s a perfect segue to start the dual meet season.”
The tournament hosted top teams from around the nation with four of eight teams ranked sixth or higher.
Reach the reporter at nklauss@asu.edu.
