Hampered by injuries, the ASU women’s tennis team returns to Tempe after losing to No. 1 UCLA 4–0 and No. 4 USC 6–1 in Los Angeles.
On Friday against UCLA (20-0, 7-0 Pac-12), No. 29 ASU (10-6, 2-5 Pac-12) had an early setback in doubles when senior Sianna Simmons, partnered with freshman Leighann Sahagun, was forced to retire because she reinjured her knee.
“This was really unfortunate for Sianna,” coach Sheila McInerney said. “She took two weeks off to prepare for this weekend. I feel badly for her because she worked so hard to be ready to play.”
To win the doubles point, the Bruins pair of freshmen No. 11 Robin Anderson and Skylar Morton defeated sophomore Jacqueline Cako and junior Hannah James 8–3.
In singles play, ASU had to vacate the No. 6 position after Simmons’ injury, so UCLA received another point to take a 2–0 lead.
The featured singles match pitted top 10 opponents No. 9 Cako against No. 6 Anderson.
Anderson was leading the battle 6–1, 4–2 when Cako took an injury timeout.
“Jacqueline had tweaked her hamstring against Stanford and Cal and it just gave out on her,” McInerney said.
Needing two points to clinch the win, UCLA freshman Kaitlin Ray defeated Sahagun 6–2, 6–2, and Morton defeated freshman Joanna Smith 6–2, 6–3.
Saturday’s competition against No. 4 USC started on a bleak note as ASU had only four healthy players.
That meant ASU forfeited the No. 3 doubles spot and the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions.
James and Sahagun lost 8–2 to USC junior Valeria Pulido and freshman Zoë Scandalis to lose the doubles point.
In singles play, senior Michelle Brycki replaced injured Cako in the No. 1 spot.
A bright spot in the weekend occurred when Brycki defeated No. 15 Scandalis after winning the tiebreaker in the first set 7–6 (2) and taking the second set 6–4.
“Michelle had a really good weekend,” McInerney said. “She was winning against UCLA before the match was stopped and then she beat one of the top players in the country.”
Smith lost to No. 22 junior Danielle Lao 6–0, 6–1, the final point the Trojans needed to beat the Sun Devils 6–1.
Sahagun had a competitive three-set match against sophomore Kaitlyn Christian.
Sahagun dominated the first set and won it 6–0, then fell 6–1 and 1–0 (10–5) in the next two sets.
“Overall, this was a disappointing weekend, but at this point, we need to take it one day at a time and get healthy,” McInerney said.
After two weekends on the road, the Sun Devils return home to play Utah and Colorado on April 13 and 14 at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
“It always helps playing at home, especially with teams that aren’t used to the heat,” McInerney said. “We just need to have six players on the court. Right now we have four healthy girls, and hopefully at least Sianna or Jacqueline will be ready.”
Reach the reporter at dkmcinty@asu.edu
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