Every Monday, The State Press will release its Player of the Week award in recognition of a Sun Devil athlete who stood out in his or her sport.
Women's basketball senior guard Elisha Davis seemed like the sure winner of The State Press' first Player of the Week award, until senior tennis player Desirae Krawczyk defeated three nationally-ranked opponents en route to winning the Palm Springs Invitational.
First, she defeated No. 64 Arizona junior Lauren Marker. Marker beat Krawczyk in the final game of the 2014 season, but since then, the ASU player hasn't lost against the Wildcat. Over the weekend, Krawczyk won in two sets.
In the quarterfinals, she played against No. 20 Stanford junior Taylor Davidson, winning both sets 6-4.
She played against No. 18 UCLA senior Catherine Harrison in the finals. This was the only match that Krawczyk went three sets in.
She easily took the first set, winning 6-1, but Harris fought back in the second and won 7-5.
Krawczyk stayed at the top of her game in the third, winning 6-3.
She won the Pac-12 Player of the Week. She's the first ASU tennis player to receive this award since Kelcy McKenna in 2011.
Krawczyk dominated for ASU as the second-court player, senior Stephanie Vlad, sat due to injury.
Notable performance: Elisha Davis, women's basketball
Vs. Colorado: 11 points, 5 assists, 4 steals and 0 turnovers.
Vs. Utah: 13 points, 6 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers.
Senior point guard Elisha Davis has proven herself to be the most valuable player on the No. 8 ASU women's basketball team – winners of 12 consecutive games and six in a row in the Pac-12.
The 5-foot-3 fireplug point guard earns her stripes by playing lockdown perimeter defense and setting the pace on offense. She was more impressive than normal in terms of statistics, but for Davis' true impact, you have to look beyond the number.
Playing with energy, effort and pace is what makes Davis such a high-level competitor. That competitive fire was on full display this week when the Sun Devils notched two dominant wins over Colorado and Utah.
Related Links:
Krawczyk finds happy homecoming with a win at Palm Springs Invitational
10 ASU games to watch this semester
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
Reach the sports editor at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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