Sophomore Kassidy Jump returns the volley during a doubles match with partner, senior Joanna Smith against Penn on March 9, 2015, at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)The No. 19 ASU tennis team (10-3, 2-0) fell today to No. 16 Pepperdine in a valiant 3-4 effort, ending an eight-match win streak.
Earlier the week, head coach Sheila McInerney had said that the visitors would be the best side her group had faced this season, and it showed in the way the opponents played throughout the day.
“I thought that it would be a tough match,” she said. “Pepperdine is a very good team. It’s certainly disappointing not to win this match, but our team competed really well.”
For the first time this season, the team dropped the doubles point, after having won the portion in the team’s previous 12 matches.
The No. 1 pair of juniors Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad won their doubles match, coasting to a 6-1 win. However, the team dropped the No. 2 and No. 3 games, giving Pepperdine the advantage heading into the singles half of the match.
The team bravely fought back. However, the effort would come just short as the Sun Devils managed to only capture three singles matches.
Although the full result didn’t go the team’s way, there were some positives to take away from the match.
Senior Leighann Sahagun returned to the court for the first time this dual-match season after suffering a knee injury. She debuted in the No. 5 spot during singles.
Sahagun said she had been anticipating this moment all season, likening her anxiousness to watching others perform on a stage, knowing she would inevitably enter the moment, too.
“I woke up this morning and I was shaking because I was so nervous,” she said. “It was nerves and excitement all at the same time. It was kind of surreal, thinking ‘oh, wait... I’m actually playing today!’
“I was watching the doubles and thinking, ‘Alright, I’m coming up next, I’m coming up next.’ I texted like 10 of my friends and they were texting me all of these cool messages to calm me down, but it was good.”
Sahagun would go on to officially win her match which her opponent, Pepperdine sophomore Christine Maddox, retired from with the score 4-6, 6-4, 3-1 (retired) in favor of the veteran Sun Devil.
“It could’ve been a little bit better,” Sahagun said of his first match back.
She said the first set was her chance to get a feel for everything before finally putting it all together in the second, and finally peaking in confidence in the third.
“Once I broke her, I was feeling really confident and comfortable. My mentality was, ‘I’m going to win this match.’”
The Sun Devils could certainly use her leadership and energy heading into the most crucial stretch of their season.
McInerney said afterward she felt that her team showed tremendous effort despite the result.
“I think at the end of the year it’s all about competing,” she said. “You win some and you lose some tough ones.
“(There was) a lot of good stuff. We almost turned it at the end, and it got close. It’s unfortunate, but (there were) some positives certainly and we competed really well.”
The Sun Devils will be in action tomorrow against No. 53 San Jose State at 11 a.m. in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at kajone31@asu.edu or follow @kaelenjones on Twitter.
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