Tucson, Ariz.- The 67th- ranked Arizona women's tennis team couldn't pull off the upset against No. 22 Arizona State in the Wildcats' final home match of the season. Arizona fell 0-7 and ends the regular season with a 12-11 overall record.
“While we didn't get the outcome we wanted, I felt we played them very close today,” said head coach Vicky Maes. “We were in it in the doubles and we were also in it in three out of the six singles. Our biggest weakness this year has been the deuce games. We simply did not convert enough of those in our favor today yet again. All in all, I'm proud of our kids and the way they represented themselves all year.”
Arizona fought hard, but couldn't win the doubles point. ASU's Kassidy Jump and Sammi Hampton bested junior Samantha Czarniak and freshman Camila Wesbrooks on court three by a score of 6-3. The 38th-ranked duo of Senior Shayne Austin and junior Lauren Marker upset the ASU's 28th-ranked Ebony Panoho and Alex Osborne on court one by a score of 6-2, ending Austin's doubles career at home on a high note. Senior Inge Hendrikx and sophomore Devin Chypyha's comeback bid on court two fell short despite great effort, and Arizona ended up surrendering the doubles point after a 6-3 loss to Desirae Krawczyk and Stephanie Vlad.
After doubles competition, but before the start of singles play, the Wildcats took some time to honor their two seniors, Inge Hendrikx and Shayne Austin, in their last home match of their four year careers.
“It was the last home match for seniors Inge and Shayne,” said coach Maes, “but those two will always be remembered for their hard work and dedication to the team.”
Arizona kept things close in singles, but couldn't gain the necessary momentum at the right times. Austin went back and forth with Jump, but wasn't able to pull her second upset of the day and fell in two close sets (7-5, 6-4). Even though she lost today, Austin finishes this regular season with an impressive 13-9 record on court two. Czarniak dropped two straight sets to Hampton on court five, bringing ASU to within one point of victory not long before Wesbrooks lost to Vlad on court four. ASU increased their lead to 5-0 when freshman Kinga Gartner fell to ASU junior Gussie O'Sullivan by a score of 6-3, 6-3 on court six. 48th-ranked Marker bested Krawczyk 6-1 in set one, but lost a set three tiebreaker after failing to close out an extremely close set two. Chypyha forced a third set with her 6-1 set two victory over Panoho on court three, but lost the crucial third set, bringing the final score to 7-0.
The Wildcats have only a couple of days to prepare for the Pac-12 tournament which starts Wednesday, April 20 in Ojai, California.
Doubles
1. Marker/Austin (UA) def. Panoho/Osborne (ASU) 6-2
2. Krawczyk/Vlad (ASU) def. Chypyha/Hendrikx (UA) 6-3
3. Kassidy/Hampton (ASU) def. Wesbrooks/Czarniak (UA) 6-3
Singles
1. Krawczyk (ASU) def. Marker (UA) 1-6, 7-5, 10-2
2. Jump (ASU) def. Austin (UA) 7-5, 6-4
3. Panoho (ASU) def. Chypyha (UA) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
4. Vlad (ASU) def. Wesbrooks (UA) 6-3, 6-1
5. Hampton (ASU) def. Czarniak (UA) 6-3, 6-3
6. O'Sullivan def. Gartner (UA) 6-2, 6-2
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