Senior Hannah James clinches her racket as she attempts to return a volley against Saint Mary’s on March 2. James steps into the No. 4 spot this weekend in place of injured freshman Stephanie Vlad. (Photo by Murphy Bannerman)Playtime is over.
After winning its first five conference matches, the ASU’s women’s tennis team faces its stiffest competition thus far against No. 5 USC and No. 9 UCLA
The Trojans and Bruins represent "a considerable jump" in competition, according to coach Sheila McInerney.
ASU takes on a solid USC team from top to bottom.
“They’re really deep,” McInerny said. “From one to six in singles and all three doubles are really strong. They have the No. 1 doubles team in the country.”
USC sophomore Sabrina Santamaria and junior Kaitlyn Christian make up the Trojans’ top-ranked doubles team.
If that wasn’t enough, Santamaria is also the No. 2 singles player in the country. Including Santamaria, five of USC’s six singles players are ranked in the top 100.
Needless to say, nothing is going to come easy against the Women of Troy.
Same goes for the Bruins.
UCLA also boasts five nationally ranked singles players, headlined by sophomore Robin Anderson, the No. 3 single player in the nation.
With so much firepower up and down both lineups, there is no prefect strategy for beating USC or UCLA.
McInerney has been stressing the importance of not being overwhelmed by the situation to her players.
“You just have to take care of your own court,” McInerney said.“Don’t worry about the big picture; it’s really about taking care of your point.”
Injuries hurt the Sun Devils in their losses to the Trojans and Bruins last season, and ASU forfeited one match to UCLA and two matches to USC.
The Sun Devils haven’t had to battle the injury bug much this year, but it decided to bite at the worst possible time.
Freshman Stephanie Vlad injured her right knee at the end of a practice before playing Washington.
“We probably had about five minutes left when I came in and hit a volley and instantly felt a pain in my knee,” Vlad said. “It’s still bothering me when I walk, so judging by how it feels when I walk, it’s going to be pretty unrealistic for me to play.”
McInerney confirmed it as well. Although there are no tears in Vlad’s knee, she will not play over the weekend.
Vlad’s absence creates a void in the lineup at the No. 4 spot where Vlad has won 10 straight matches.
The good news for the Sun Devils is senior Hannah James will move up from her usual No. 5 spot and take Vlad’s place at No. 4.
James isn’t unfamiliar with playing at No. 4. As a sophomore, James was 12-4 at that spot.
“I’m kind of back to where my spot was on that fourth court, where I had a great season. A good two years ago that was one of my best seasons, and I was on that court the entire time," James said.
The Sun Devils’ match with USC starts at 1:30 p.m. and the match with UCLA starts at noon at Whiteman Tennis Center.
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu
