Stanford proved to be ASU’s Achilles’ heel as Cardinal players eliminated three Sun Devils in the Pac-10 women’s tennis Championships in Ojai, Calif., over the weekend.
The mixed results meant the Pac-10s were somewhat disappointing for ASU (15-6, 4-2 Pac-10), ASU coach Sheila McInerney said.
“I think it was good for us,” McInerney said. “Overall we would have liked to have better results, but everyone got to play some matches.”
Senior Kelcy McKenna made it the furthest in the tournament for the Sun Devils. She defeated two players to make it to the singles quarterfinals.
“Kelcy won two tough matches which was good because she hadn’t played in a couple of weeks,” McInerney said.
In the round of 32, No. 17 Kelcy McKenna easily defeated Washington’s Aleksandra Krsljanin, 6-1, 6-2. McKenna then faced UA’s Sarah Landsman in the round of 16. McKenna dropped the first set 6-3, but rallied back to win the next two sets 6-1, 6-1.
But then came the Cardinal.
McKenna faced Stanford’s Stacey Tan in the quarterfinals, and took her match to three sets, but No. 60 Tan was able to pull off the upset. Tan won the first set 6-4, McKenna rallied back to win the second set 7-5, but fell 6-1 in the third set.
No. 68 ASU senior Micaela Hein also won in the round of 32 with a victory over Washington State’s Luda Vasilieva (6-1, 6-3). Then there was Stanford again and Hein dropped her round of 16 match to the Cardinal’s No. 25 Kristie Ahn (6-4, 6-2).
“For the whole tournament, I think Stanford is a really good team,” Hein said. “They’re hosting the NCAAs this year and we’re shooting to beat them.”
Sophomore Hannah James and junior Michelle Brycki both fell in the round of 32. James won the first set against Washington’s Samantha Smith (6-2), but then lost 7-6 (5), 6-3. Brycki took her match to three sets before falling to Stanford’s No. 20 Mallory Burdette (6-3, 4-6, 6-3).
ASU junior Sianna Simmons won both of her matches in the Invitational Singles Draw. She topped Washington State’s Erin Troedson (6-4, 6-2) and then defeated USC’s Alison Ramos, 6-0, 7-6(5). UA’s Kim Stubbe knocked Simmons out in the quarterfinals (6-3, 6-0).
“Sianna definitely had a good tournament,” McInerney said.
In doubles, the No. 24 tandem of Hein and McKenna defeated the UCLA duo of Pamela Montez and Carling Seguso (8-3) and then went on to beat the Stanford duo of Carolyn McVeigh and Stacey Tan (8-5).
But the two were knocked out of the quarterfinals by the No. 5 USC tandem of Kaitlyn Christian and Maria Sanchez (8-4).
The Pac-10 Championships provided the last opportunity for players to boost their rankings to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
The 2011 NCAA regional selections will take place on Tuesday and No. 14 ASU is waiting to find out if it will have the opportunity to host, which it hasn’t done since 2002.
“We’ll find out about regionals on Tuesday,” McInerney said. “Right now we’re focusing on getting them through exams so they’ll be ready to go by NCAAs.”
The NCAA Regionals start on May 13.
Reach the reporter at nicole.klauss@asu.edu
