The No. 25 ASU tennis team will travel to Ojai, California, to take part in the Pac-12 Championships.
ASU concluded the 2015 dual-match regular season with a 15-7 record, including a 6-4 clip during conference play.
After finishing ranked in the top 25, the team has presumably assured itself a spot in the NCAA Tournament field and will hope to use the conference championships as an opportunity to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.
Unlike the NCAA Tournament, the Pac-12 Championships are structured around individual play and not by team.
The top three singles players of each team will be drawn into a separate field during the singles tournament, with the rest being left for another.
In doubles, the pairings will similarly be drawn.
ASU head coach Sheila McInerney was excited about the opportunity the conference tournament gave her players in advance of the national tournament.
“The beauty of it is that everyone gets to play,” she said. “Players like (sophomores) Alex (Osborne) and Gussie (O’Sullivan) who haven’t played the last couple dual matches will get to play. It’s a good way to end the season.”
McInerney said the team will have four doubles teams competing in that respective portion of the tournament.
In fact, the nationally ranked duo of sophomore Kassidy Jump and senior Joanna Smith will be looking to recapture the doubles title for the lower tier after winning the doubles title last season in Ojai.
This season, the team hopes to further the success it experienced throughout the spring.
The Sun Devils finished the dual-match regular season with two nationally-ranked doubles pairs — juniors Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad (No. 25) along with Jump and Smith (No. 49).
In singles, Krawczyk finished as the No. 31 player in the nation, and senior Leighann Sahagun finished ranked No. 108.
Krawczyk said she is looking forward to facing talented opponents ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m excited,” Krawczyk said. “I think this is gonna be a good opportunity for us to play against good teams and do well (with) opportunities for ranked wins against good players.”
The Pac-12 Championships will begin Thursday, April 23, however, the matches have yet to be officially drawn. The tournament will be played through Sunday, April 26.
Reach the reporter at kajone31@asu.edu or follow @kaelenjones on Twitter.
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