Junior Stephanie Vlad prepares a backhand hit during a doubles match with junior Desirae Krawczyk against Penn on March 9, 2015, at the Whiteman Tennis Center. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)The No. 24 ASU tennis team (10-2, 2-0) began Pac-12 conference play with two outstanding results, claiming two wins by way of straight-set sweeps over Utah on Friday and No. 47 Colorado on Sunday.
With the two conference victories, the team captured its seventh and eighth straight win, and during the process notched its fifth and sixth sweep over the course of the winning streak.
The team has now claimed 12 of 12 possible points from the doubles portion of matches, as well.
The two matches were the team’s first road fixtures since traveling to Evanston, Illinois, to face No. 35 Northwestern and No. 22 Kentucky.
Head coach Sheila McInerney had said she was looking forward to the out of state venture, saying it would provide the players after the team’s win over Marquette on Tuesday.
Multiple players expressed their excitement for the chance to go on the road and start Pac-12 play throughout the week. Many of them felt that the uptick in match play provided them an opportunity to get some momentum going—something that McInerney has said she believes is important to the growth of her unit.
The team will now prepare for a week that will include a match with No. 21 Pepperdine before two weekend matches against San Jose State and Washington State.
Here are the results from the Sun Devils’ recent Pac-12 road trip:
No. 24 ASU 7, Utah 0?? (Friday, March 13 — Salt Lake City)
Doubles
1. No. 31 Bekerova/Pletcher (UT) vs. No. 26 Krawczyk/Vlad (ASU), DNF (abandoned)
2. No. 75 Smith/Jump (ASU) def. Richter/Cheng (UT), 8-2
3. Panoho/Osborne (ASU) def. Najera-Salas/Da Rosa (UT), 8-4
Singles
1. No. 26 Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) def. No. 53 Tereza Bekerova (UT), 6-4, 6-1
2. Stephanie Vlad (ASU) def. Sarah Richter (UT), 7-6, 6-3(10-6)
3. Kassidy Jump (ASU) def. Jena Cheng (UT), 6-3, 7-6
4. Joanna Smith (ASU) def. Luisa Gerstner Da Rosa (UT), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
5. Gussie O'Sullivan (ASU) def. Alexia Petrovic (UT), 6-4, 7-6
6. Ebony Panoho (ASU) def. Margo Pletcher (UT), 6-2, 6-0
No. 24 ASU 7, No. 47 Colorado 0?? (Sunday, March 15 — Boulder, Colorado)
Doubles
1. No. 26 Krawczyk/Vlad (ASU) vs. Aiello/Tiefel (CU), 6-4 DNF (abandoned)
2. No. 75 Smith/Jump (ASU) def. Wojcik/Ormeño Ruiz (CU), 8-3
3. Panoho/Osborne (ASU) def. Alkhovik/Strachan (CU), 8-3
Singles
1. No.44 Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) def. Nuria Ormeño Ruiz (CU), 6-4, 6-1
2. Stephanie Vlad (ASU) def. Alex Aiello (CU), 6-3, 6-1
3. Kassidy Jump (ASU) def. Kyra Wojcik (CU), 6-3, 7-5
4. Joanna Smith (ASU) def. Erin Strachan (CU), 6-0, 6-2
5. Gussie O’Sullivan (ASU) def. Vitaliya Alkhovik (CU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Ebony Panoho (ASU) def. Ashley Tiefel (CU), 6-1, 6-1
Reach the reporter at kajone31@asu.edu or follow @kaelenjones on Twitter.
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