ASU tennis coach Sheila McInerney was very vocal, yelling as a scrimmage doubles match came to an end Tuesday.
“This is high-quality tennis right now,” she said.
Now, a month after the Michigan Invitational, the Sun Devils are seeing improvements in their doubles play. At Michigan, their first tournament of the year, the Sun Devils won just two of 10 doubles matches.
Sophomore Stephanie Vlad said doubles play has been a focal point in practice since that tournament.
“We’ve been switching on and off between singles and doubles,” Vlad said. “Our doubles game needs some more work, so we’ve been incorporating more doubles lately.”
The main reason for the struggles in doubles play was the team's lack of practice, McInerney said. ASU had only one day of doubles practice before the tournament. With their youth-laden roster, the Sun Devils experimented in doubles pairings, for the most part.
They have continued the mix-and-match process since the tournament. Vlad said nobody knows who her partner will be, but she’d be comfortable playing with anyone on the team.
Unlike singles play, doubles requires a level of chemistry and communication between partners that has to be practiced constantly.
The importance of having successful doubles play isn’t lost on the team, which is why it has been such an emphasis in practice.
“Doubles point is so important for us to get us off to the first-point lead in our matches,” Vlad said. “We definitely need to improve, and it’s always a positive ... whenever we improve.”
Winning just 20 percent of their matches flipped a switch on the team. Since Michigan, Vlad said the team’s work ethic has improved dramatically.
“Because we have had such a long stretch (without matches), we have to stay motivated to play," Vlad said. "We’ve just been pushing through it to be prepared for the Thunderbird (Invitational).”
The Thunderbird Invitational, hosted by ASU, is Nov. 8 through Nov. 10. It’s the second and final preseason tournament the Sun Devils will compete in this season.
Tennis bit by injury bug
– Freshman Kassidy Jump has been dealing with a back injury for a month and is still limited to drills only in practice. McInerney said she isn’t quite 100 percent but is getting better.– Sophomore Ebony Panoho was on crutches in practice Tuesday because of a pulled hamstring she injured while doing sprints with the team. McInerney joked that Panoho was finally running at full speed and didn’t know how fast she could actually run, which resulted in the injury. Panoho was able to walk without the crutches and is expected back in the coming days.
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or on Twitter @EWeebs
