Coming off of a two month break, ASU women's tennis looks to get back into the swing of things at the Palm Springs Invitational on Friday.
“The tournament this weekend will be very strong,” head coach Sheila McInerney said. "This is a good one after the break to just get back into competitive match play for the girls."
It will be the final individual tournament of the year for the team, and will feature some stiff competition. The Pac-12 features four teams in the top ten that will be competing in the tournament: No. 2 USC, No. 7 Cal, No. 8 Stanford and No. 9 UCLA.
Seeding for the tournament will be determined late Thursday night through a random draw of the 32 participants. The Sun Devils will have six players entered in the drawing.
The last time the ASU women were on the court, they had some success of their own. Senior Desirae Krawczyk is coming off a win at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in dominant fashion, taking all five of her matches in straight sets.
Krawczyk will look to build off of the win this weekend when she competes about 15 miles away from her hometown of Palm Desert, California.
“I’m really excited for that, you know, family and friends coming out," Krawczyk said. “It should be a good weekend for all of us to get some matches under our belts.”
The tournament begins the final spring season for three seniors on the Sun Devils roster, but one of them will be sitting. Stephanie Vlad will not compete due to a stress reaction in her shin and will be re-evaluated over the weekend. McInerney said the injury is a result of overuse, and Vlad said that her status is day-to-day.
Although this particular invitational will consist of individual competition only, McInerney said having a veteran-led team creates some advantages.
“The kids know what to expect. Knowing what’s around the corner, knowing the strength of our schedule can help,” she said. “You never like to take a six-week break from competition, but that’s the way tennis is. Hopefully they’ll be ready to go.”
Related Links:
How ASU tennis is connected to Australia
No. 19 ASU tennis sweeps Washington State for third conference win
Reach the reporter at mfaye@asu.edu or follow @mattGfaye on Twitter.
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