Junior Desirae Krawczyk and junior Stephanie Vlad anticipate the return during a doubles match against Penn on March 9, 2015, at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe. Krawczyk and Vlad would go on to win this match against the Quakers. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)The No. 19 ASU tennis team (10-2, 2-0) has been on a tear as of late, reeling off eight straight wins, including six sweeps, as it navigates through the remainder of the dual-match season.
Head coach Sheila McInerney says that she's not concerned with how many wins her team wins, but for whether her team is playing their best.
"Nothing’s easy," she said. "At one point, we were 2-2, but I think now, towards the tail end of our schedule, the matches do tend to get a little bit tougher."
Over the course of the winning streak, the team has not faced any teams that are currently ranked in the top-25. Pepperdine boasts the No. 16-ranked team in the nation, and that has been a game that McInerney and her players have been looking forward to for quite some time now.
Originally, the game had been scheduled to be played earlier in the season on March 1, but a potential rainout prevented Pepperdine from making the trip to Tempe. At that point in the season, the team was just beginning to hit its stride. Now, having built some momentum, it is even more prepared to take on such a talented opponent.
"I’m looking forward to it because Pepperdine is going to be the best team we’ve faced all year," McInerney said. "I think they’ve had some really good close matches (in losses against No. 3 California, No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 USC). They’re very strong, so I think it’ll be really good for us."
Pepperdine features the No. 15 and No. 90-ranked singles players in senior Lorraine Guillermo and sophomore Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai, respectively, according to the latest ITA player rankings. They also have the No. 73 doubles pairing composed of junior Matea Cutura and sophomore Christine Maddox.
As for San Jose State and Washington State, neither currently have any players ranked in the ITA player rankings. Still, the Sun Devils are not taking either opponent lightly, conveying a focused mentality prior to their upcoming match-ups.
Coming off a successful road trip against the team's first Pac-12 opponents of the year, McInerney said that she believes her team can maintain its strong form heading into the three matches. She said that her team would have a light hitting day on Tuesday in order to stay fresh for the week.
"You know, we were on the road for five days so that was a long road trip for us," McInerney said. "We have a busy week, so now it’s just a matter of making sure they’re not too tired, keeping them healthy and all that. All that stuff I think is important."
The Sun Devils will take on No. 16 Pepperdine Thursday in Tempe at 1:30 p.m., followed by a match against San Jose State in Tempe at 11 a.m. on Friday. They will hit the road to play their third conference game of the dual-match season against Washington State on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Reach the reporter at kajone31@asu.edu or follow @kaelenjones on Twitter.
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