The ASU women's tennis team is getting healthy at just the right time, leaving head coach Sheila McInerney with a few tough lineup decisions as the Sun Devils head into the thick of their schedule.
"I think the lineups have played out how the records have gone," she said. "You're supposed to play the lineup in order of ability, and I think that's what we've done."
In singles, the top three positions have been steady. Senior Desirae Krawczyk has cemented herself into the top spot while junior Kassidy Jump and senior Ebony Panoho have spent most of their time on the second and third courts, respectively.
As senior Stephanie Vlad comes back from injury, the lower courts have been most affected by her return. Vlad competed on the fourth court Monday against No. 17 Pepperdine in her first loss of the spring season. Freshman Sammi Hampton was bumped down to the fifth spot while junior Gussie O'Sullivan played at the sixth position.
Junior Alexandra Osborne fell out of the top six and didn't participate in singles for the first time this season.
"I'm not someone who's focused on where I'm playing in the lineup — it's just not something I'm thinking or worrying about," she said. "Whatever can help get the team the win, that's where I'll play."
The records do speak for themselves. Neither Hampton nor O'Sullivan has dropped a singles match this season. Hampton said that while it's great to keep winning, she would not have been this successful without her teammates.
"I'm happy with how everything has been going, but I get really nervous before matches," she said. "At Pepperdine, Alex was crazy cheering for me. Things like that help a lot."
Osborne has had success as well, but lost twice and sits at 4-2 individually. McInerney said the decision to take Osborne out of the singles lineup was a pretty simple one for her.
"Not that it was cut and dry, but the singles was probably the easiest decision to make just based on the records," she said.
Osborne has made the doubles decision a much harder one for her coach, teaming up with Panoho in ASU's top pairing to upset Pepperdine's third ranked duo in the country, Matea Cutura and Christine Maddox, last weekend.
Osborne has paired with Panoho to win each of their last three matches as the Sun Devils' first doubles team. Krawczyk and Vlad reunited on the second court Saturday against Pepperdine, while the duo of Hampton and Jump rounded out doubles play in the third position.
"I'll be honest, there's not that much difference with some of these teams between one and three," said McInerney. "We'll have to see what happens in doubles."
The Sun Devils host San Jose State on Saturday at the Whiteman Tennis Center, with first serve at noon. ASU then gets right back to work Sunday with a home matchup against Long Beach State.
No matter what the lineup card has this weekend, Osborne said the team will stick together to accomplish their goals.
"We all know we have each other's backs, we have team camaraderie," she said. "We want to sweep the weekend so we'll be supporting each and every girl out there."
Reach the reporter at mfaye@asu.edu or follow @mattGfaye on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
