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ASU Tennis: Sun Devils open Pac-12 play victorious, knock off Utah, Colorado

The ladies brought the heat to begin conference play.

By Kaelen Jones

Arizona State women’s tennis opened the Pac-12 portion of its schedule with two home victories this week, notching wins over visiting Utah on Friday and Colorado on Saturday at Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe.

The 40th-ranked Sun Devils (7-3, 2-0 in Pac-12) made quick work of both opponents, capturing 4-0 results in each match. ASU head coach Sheila McInerney said the teams decided beforehand of each contest to play a clinch-clinch match, noting the heat, the visitors’ travel, and concern over members of her short-staffed lineup potentially suffering an injury in a match that wouldn’t factor into the final score as reasons.

“We only have seven players,” she said. “There’s no reason sometimes to push it. We’ve still got at least half the season to go, and we certainly can’t afford somebody out at this point. Sometimes it works in your favor, sometimes it doesn’t.”

The final score did manage to go the Sun Devils’ way to open their Pac-12 slate, in part because of a strong performance during the doubles segment of their latest matches.

In ASU’s previous two games—losses to No. 9 Pepperdine and No. 2 Ohio State—the team had failed to claim the doubles point, marking the first time this season it hadn’t.

During each of their conference-opening matches, the Sun Devils returned to doubles dominance thanks to their No. 1 duo of senior Alex Osborne and junior Nicole Fossa-Huergo. The pairing opened with a 6-4 win over Utah’s Margo Pletcher and Brianna Turley on Friday, followed by a 6-1 win over Colorado’s Louise Ronaldson and Chloe Hue on Saturday, improving their record to 5-2 this season.

In singles, it was mostly smooth sailing throughout both days.

Against Utah, seniors Kassidy Jump (97th-ranked singles player nationally) and Gussie O’Sullivan, and Fossa-Huergo each won in straight sets to solidify the outcome. Against Colorado, sophomore Sammi Hampton (48th-ranked singles player nationally), Fossa-Huergo and O’Sullivan each won in straight sets to finalize the match.

“Nice to get the win,” said McInerney. “Nice to get the sweep, but certainly more competitive than a blow out, for sure.”

The results send the Sun Devils off riding a two-game winning streak ahead of a trip to the Bay Area, where they’ll take on No. 14 Stanford and No. 12 California next Friday and Saturday, respectively.

“Needless to say, two tough ones on the road,” McInerney said. “It was nice to start off conference 2-0. We’ve got two of the top teams in the conference. We’ll certainly have our work cut out for us, but that’s a good thing. That’s why you come and get to play these good teams.”

Below are full results of each contest (via Sun Devil Athletics):

#40 Arizona State – 4, Utah – 0

Doubles

  1. #44 Osborne/Fossa-Huergo (ASU) def. Pletcher/B. Turley (UTAH) – 6-4
  2. Anderson/Slaysman (ASU) def. Calton/Cheng (UTAH) – 6-2
  3. #59 Jump/Hampton (ASU) vs. Petrovic/Rosa (UTAH) – 5-3 (Abandoned)

Order of Finish: 2,1

Singles

  1. #97 Kassidy Jump (ASU) def. Margo Pletcher (UTAH) – 6-0, 6-1
  2. #48 Sammi Hampton (ASU) vs. Brianna Turley (UTAH) – 6-7(5), 5-4 (Abandoned)
  3. #70 Kelley Anderson (ASU) vs. Alexia Petrovic (UTAH) – 2-6, 6-4, 0-1 (Abandoned)
  4. Nicole Fossa-Huergo (ASU) def. Jena Cheng (UTAH) – 7-5, 6-2
  5. Savannah Slaysman (ASU) vs. Taylor Calton (UTAH) – 4-6, 7-5, 2-1 (Abandoned)
  6. Gussie O'Sullivan (ASU) def. Whitney Turley (UTAH) – 6-1, 6-3

Order of Finish: 1,6,4

#40 Arizona State – 4, Colorado – 0

Doubles

  1. #44 Osborne/Fossa-Huergo (ASU) def. Ronaldson/Hule (CU) – 6-1
  2. Anderson/Slaysman (ASU) vs. Oleynik/Andrinopoulos (CU) – 5-1 (Abandoned)
  3. #59 Jump/Hampton (ASU) def. Ormeno Ruiz/Wojcik (CU) – 6-2

Order of Finish: 3,1

Singles

  1. #97 Kassidy Jump (ASU) vs. Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (CU) – 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (Abandoned)
  2. #48 Sammi Hampton (ASU) def. Louise Ronaldson (CU) – 6-3, 6-0
  3. #70 Kelley Anderson (ASU) vs. Annabelle Andrinopoulos (CU) – 6-1, 2-6 (Abandoned)
  4. Nicole Fossa-Huergo (ASU) def. Chloe Hule (CU) – 6-1, 6-2
  5. Savannah Slaysman (ASU) vs. Kyra Wojcik (CU) – 6-4, 3-4 (Abandoned)
  6. Gussie O'Sullivan (ASU) def. Brigitte Beck (CU) – 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish: 4,2,6

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