Senior Jacqueline Cako crouches down to return a lofted shot against Pepperdine on Feb. 23. The ASU tennis team continued their Pac-12 dominance this past weekend sweeping Washington and Washington State. (Photo by Murphy Bannerman)Three days. Two wins. And they couldn’t have been any more different. The ASU women’s tennis team started the last leg of its five-game road-trip with a nail-biting win over Washington 4-3 on Friday.
The No. 21 Sun Devils (15-1, 5-0 Pac-12) flipped the script on Washington State on Sunday, blanking the Cougars (12-9, 1-6 Pac-12) 7-0.
With the match against Washington (10-8, 2-5 Pac-12) tied at 3-3, it came down to freshman Ebony Panoho to keep the Sun Devils’ perfect conference record alive.
In the third set of her match with the Huskies, Panoho took a 7-5 tiebreak to take the match and the win for ASU.
“It’s the first time she’s ever been in that situation, being the last one out,” ASU coach Sheila McInerney said. “There’s a lot of, quote, ‘pressure’ and I thought she handled her nerves well and played well.”
Playing well is something Panoho has made a habit of doing lately.
Before ASU’s road trip started, Panoho wasn’t even in the starting lineup. Now, Panoho has won five straight matches and showed she can pull through in tough circumstances.
Panoho wasn’t the only one to pull through in tough matches over the weekend.
In the final match of the day against Washington State on Sunday, sophomore Leighann Sahagun snapped her five-match losing skid in a three-set match breaker over Cougars sophomore Elizaveta Luzina at the No. 3 position.
With all eyes on her, Sahagun preserved ASU’s shutout against one of the Cougars’ stronger players in a win that should improve her confidence.
“Even though the match was already clinched, I think the fact that, in front of your teammates and the other team, you’re the last one out there and she came through, I do think it’s helpful,” McInerney said. “The girl she played is a very good player; that’s one of their stronger spots, at number three, so I think that was a good win for Leighann.”
Although the Sun Devils walk away from the weekend with two wins, they did suffer a major potential loss: Freshman Stephanie Vlad.
Vlad, who is currently in the midst of a 10-match unbeaten streak, injured her knee in practice the day before playing Washington.
Vlad’s knee appear to be swelling but Vlad will see a doctor on Monday, McInerney said.
“We’re just hoping it’s nothing too serious,” McInerney said.
The injury to Vlad, who plays out of the No. 4 spot, couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time for the Sun Devils.
ASU’s next four matches are all against top-20 opponents. The Sun Devils host No. 6 USC and No. 4 UCLA on Friday and Saturday.
Vlad’s availability for USC and UCLA is up in the air, especially with only a four-day break between Washington State and USC.
McInerney is being cautious especially considering Vlad having a history of knee issues.
“We’re not going to play her unless she is 100 percent (ready) to go, because she’s had a history with the knee so she needs to feel comfortable out there too,” McInerney said.
Results (Washington)
Doubles 1. Elianne Douglas-Miron/Riko Shimizu (UW) def. Nicole Smith/Jacqueline Cako (ASU) 9-7 2. Natali Coronel/Grace Ysidora (UW) def. Joanna Smith/Ebony Panoho (ASU) 8-2 3. Julija Lukac/Andjela Nemcevic (UW) def. Leighann Sahagun/Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) 8-7 (7-5) Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles 1. Jacqueline Cako (ASU) def.Andjela Nemcevic (UW) 7-5, 6-4 2. Desiare Krawczyk (ASU) def. Grace Ysidora (UW) 6-3, 6-4 3. Elianne Douglas-Miron (UW) def. Leighann Sahagun (ASU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 4. Julija Lukac (UW) def. Hannah James (ASU) 7-5, 6-1 5. Ebony Panoho (ASU) def. Natali Coronel (UW) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) 6. Joanna Smith (ASU) def. Riko Shimizu (UW) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 6, 3, 5
Results (Washington State)
Singles 1. No. 23 Jacqueline Cako (ASU) def. Liudmila Vasilieva (WSU) 6-1, 6-3 2. No. 106 Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) def. Ksenia Googe (WSU) 6-1, 6-0 3. Leighann Sahagun (ASU) def. Elizaveta Luzina (WSU) 4-6, 7-6(7-3), 1-0(10-1) 4. Hannah James (ASU) def. Andjela Karkanas (WSU) 6-3, 6-1 5. Ebony Panaho (ASU) def. Olga Musilovich (WSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 6. Joanna Smith (ASU) def. Charlotte Koning (WSU) 7-6(7-4), 6-0 Order of finish: 2,4,1,6,5,3
Doubles 1. No. 40 Cako/Smith (ASU) def. Vasilieva/Googe (WSU) 8-0 2. Panaho/Smith (ASU) def. Kankaras/Musilovich (WSU) DNF 7-2 3. No. 62 Sahagun/Krawczyk (ASU) def. Luzina/Koning (WSU) 8-1 Order of finish: 1,3
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu
