While it may have been easy to overlook, the ASU women's tennis team has been shorthanded for the entire spring season, but things should even out this weekend when the team gets one of its top players back.
Senior Stephanie Vlad will make her spring season debut Saturday when the 27th ranked Sun Devils host the University of San Diego at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
The Scottsdale native has missed the first month of the season with a stress reaction in her shin and hasn't seen action since playing in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational on Nov. 15.
"It wasn't the way I projected my senior year going so far, this wasn't something we saw happening," said Vlad. "But I feel like we've done a good job of healing it, and I'm pretty confident with how it's feeling right now."
The healing was helped by a two-week off-period since the Sun Devils were last on the court. ASU failed to qualify for the National Team Indoor Tournament in Madison, Wisconsin, instead of getting a much-needed break, said head coach Sheila McInerney.
"I think in the long run it probably helped us," she said. "It gave Stephanie some time to get healthy. ... It's like anything, if you have a break, utilize it."
Although she has been virtually injury free during her time at ASU, Vlad knows all too well what it's like to sit out a for a significant amount of time. She tore both her ACL and meniscus during her sophomore year in high school at Connections Academy in Mesa.
"That was like a huge stint out, I was out for over a year," she said. "This doesn't even come close to something like that."
While Vlad has spent the first part of the season rehabbing, her teammates have picked up the slack. ASU has won its last three team competitions over Notre Dame, Princeton and University of Texas El Paso, respectively.
In doubles, Vlad will reunite with fellow senior Desirae Krawczyk in the Sun Devils top pairing. The duo had been ranked as high as sixth nationally before the injury.
"Steph and I really did well the past few years, we were ranked pretty high," said Krawczyk. "It gave Gussie (O'Sullivan) an opportunity to play doubles, but it will be exciting to get her back."
In singles, Vlad's return marks a difficult dilemma for the Sun Devils, and one that most teams would love to have. Sammi Hampton, who replaced Vlad in the top six, has won her last four matches, while juniors Alexandra Osborne and Kassidy Jump have each also played well in Vlad's absence.
"As far as singles I have no idea what the plan is yet, I don't know where I'll be playing," said Vlad. "We haven't planned anything yet."
No matter what position she plays in, Vlad said she's just excited to get back to work.
"I think it's a good match to start with, I love playing here, I'm comfortable playing here at home," she Vlad. "San Diego is a feisty team, they make you play a lot of balls back. It's almost an ideal match to start with so I'm looking forward to it."
Related Links:
ASU tennis dominates UTEP despite rare loss from Krawczyk
ASU tennis gets even with No. 43 Princeton
Reach the reporter at mfaye@asu.edu or follow @mattGfaye on Twitter.
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