The ASU women's tennis team cruised past DePaul for its fourth straight win with a 7-0 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
ASU senior Micaela Hein and freshman Jacqueline Cako kicked off the sweep as they both won their singles matches 6-0, 6-0, an unusual occurrence in college tennis.
“I was trying to think if I’ve ever done that in college,” Hein said. “That was my first time. In college you don’t see it too often, but it was cool to see that especially as a senior who is almost done.”
ASU coach Sheila McInerney agreed that winning 6-0, 6-0 is a rare result.
“It’s hard to do that at this level,” McInerney said. “We like to say make sure you keep your foot on the gas pedal. After they won their first matches, they just kept going.”
Hein topped Tempe native Kelsey Lawson in the No. 3 position and is now on a 3-match winning streak.
No. 16 Cako defeated Blue Demon junior Gia McKnight in the No. 2 spot, pushing her singles win streak to 18-straight.
Despite the sea of blue that overwhelmed the stands in support of Lawson, the No. 16 Sun Devils (12-3, 2-0 Pac-10) put on a top performance for the few Sun Devil fans in attendance.
Sun Devil Michelle Brycki was the only player to lose a set all day, 2-6 in the first set to Christiana Raymond, but rallied back in the second set to win 6-4 and win the tiebreaker (10-6).
Brycki is on a four-match winning streak in singles play that started with her win against California on March 12.
Senior Ashlee Brown beat Blue Demon senior Selma Salkovic (6-1, 6-2) and ASU junior Sianna Simmons beat junior Cali Gustafson (6-1, 6-3) in the No. 5 and 6 spot, respectively.
Senior No. 17 Kelcy McKenna took a win over senior Katarina Milinkovic in the No. 1 position (6-3, 6-4).
McInerney kept sophomore Hannah James on the sidelines for the second straight dual to recover from an illness, but she is expected to play in the next match.
Winning so easily is a good sign for the team, McInerney said.
“Whenever you go out there and beat people badly, it’s important,” McInerney said. “It’s how you get better.”
It all started with a Sun Devil sweep in the doubles matches, which has been a strong point for the team this season.
The tandem of Hein and McKenna were the first to finish in doubles with a victory over Milinkovic and McKnight (8-3).
The duo has gone 7-3 so far this season in the No. 1 position.
Brycki and Cako defeated Lawson and Salkovic (8-6), while Simmons and Brown took an 8-3 victory over Raymond and Gustafson.
The tandems have found success this season even through switches in the No. 2 and 3 positions.
Cako and Brycki have gone 6-2 in the No. 2 position and 2-0 in the No. 3 position for doubles this season, while Simmons and Brown have gone 5-2 in the No. 2 position and 6-2 in the No. 3 position.
The Sun Devils have also utilized the home court advantage this season and are now 9-1 at home and 3-2 on the road.
Three of the remaining six duals will be in Tempe, with two of them coming against top-15 schools.
The Sun Devils will be on the road this weekend as they take on the Washington Huskies on Friday, a team which features the No. 5 player in the country, Denise Dy.
Reach the reporter at nicole.klauss@asu.edu
