After taking 19 of the possible 22 doubles points during the regular season, it only makes sense that ASU tennis would end its Pac-12 season with a doubles victory.
Senior Ebony Panoho and junior Alexandra Osborne took home the Pac-12 doubles championship Sunday with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Melissa Lord and Carol Zhao of Stanford in Ojai, CA. It was the first time in program history that an ASU pairing has won the conference title in doubles.
The duo began its tournament run with a victory against Colorado's top pairing in the first round, before grabbing a win over Margo Pletcher and Brianna Turley of Utah to move on the semifinals. Panoho and Osborne would then face off with Giuliana Olmos and Gabby Smith from USC, breezing into the finals with a 6-2 win over the seventh-ranked duo in the country.
The doubles championship marks the end of a successful season for Panoho and Osborne. ASU's top pairing lost just three matches all spring together, with wins over the third, fifth and seventh ranked duo's nationally. Panoho and Osborne came into the weekend at No. 18 in the polls.
In addition to the doubles title, ASU also won the team competition for the first time ever. Teams do not actually go head-to-head for this distinction, instead being decided by totals wins from the singles and doubles competitions combined. The Sun Devils earned nine total wins, three more than the next-closest opponent.
While the doubles championship stole the show, ASU did have some success during the weekend in singles play. Desirae Krawczyk and Panoho each won two matches Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals, but would both be eliminated the following day. Eighth-seeded Krawczyk lost in straight sets to number-one seed an eventual singles champ Megan Manasse of California. Panoho fell to Olmos from USC, but would later avenge the loss in the doubles semifinal.
No. 22 ASU will now get couple weeks off before NCAA Regionals begin on May 13. Seeding for the tournament has yet to be announced.
Reach the reporter at mfaye@asu.edu or follow @mattGfaye on Twitter.
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