No. 26 Tennis Tops Notre Dame, Faces Northwestern for ITA Indoor Spot

By Shayne Dwyer, SDA Media Relations

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The No. 26 Arizona State Sun Devils (3-0; Pac-12 0-0) women's tennis team opened up the first round of ITA Kickoff Weekend with a win this Saturday afternoon, topping No. 21 Notre Dame 4-0.

Sophomore Desirae Krawczyk clinched the match for Arizona State with a three set win over Quinn Gleason, 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (4) on the number two court on the campus of Northwestern University.

"I'm really happy with the win as it was a very tough and physical match," Arizona State University head coach Sheila McInerney said. "Our team competed great and played with passion."

Competing under the experimental ITA guidelines, the match was cut short once the winning point was clinched. Leighann Sahagun, Kassidy Jump and Gussie O'Sullivan competed in unfinished matches on the third, fifth and sixth courts respectively.

The Sun Devils started the morning on top 1-0 after clinching the doubles point with wins on both courts two and three. Ebony Panoho and Stephanie Vlad won the first doubles match over Mary Closs and Julie Sabacinski of Notre Dame 6-3 giving ASU the early advantage. 

The junior pairing of Leighann Sahagun and Joanna Smith was unable to top Quinn Gleason and Britney Sanders on the No. 1 court however, falling 6-2 and making the match on court three count until the end. Desirae Krawczyk and Kassidy Jump completed the job, pulling in a 7-5 win over Jennifer Kellner and Jane Fennelly.

From there on out, Stephanie Vlad, Desirae Krawczyk and Ebony Panoho secured the match for Arizona State winning on the first, second and third courts respectively. Vlad defeated Britney Sanders in two sets, 6-1, 6-2, while Panoho also won a two setter over Mary Closs 6-4, 6-0.

"The final score was not indivative of how close the match was," McInerney said.

We were down a match poing in the doubles and three of our singles matches were in the super tiebreaker when Desirae (Krawczyk) clinched the match for us." 

The Sun Devils will match up against Northwestern University tomorrow afternoon after the Wildcats win over Oklahoma State earlier in the day, 4-0.

"We will need a quick recovery as we play a very good Northwestern team tomorrow," McInerney said.

Stick with thesundevils.com and Like Arizona State University Women's Tennis on Facebook for all of the last news, scores and results.

No. 26 Arizona State 4 :: No. 21 Notre Dame 0

Evanston, Ill.
1/25/14
3:00 p.m. CST

DOUBLES

1. No. 30 Quinn Gleason/Britney Sanders (ND) def. Leighann Sahagun/Joanna Smith (ASU) 6-2
2. Ebony Panoho/Stephanie Vlad (ASU) def. Mary Closs/Julie Sabacinski (ND) 6-3
3. Desirae Krawczyk/Kassidy Jump (ASU) def. Jennifer Kellner/Jane Fennelly (ND) 7-5

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*

SINGLES

1. No. 50 Stephanie Vlad (ASU) def. Britney Sanders (ND) 6-1, 6-2
2. Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) def. Quinn Gleason (ND) 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (4)
3. Jennifer Kellner (ND) vs. Leighann Sahagun (ASU) 7-6, 3-6 DNF
4. Ebony Panoho (ASU) def. Mary Closs (ND) 6-4, 6-0
5. Julie Vrabel (ND) vs. Kassidy Jump (ASU) 4-6, 7-6 DNF
6. Julie Sabacinski (ND) vs. Gussie O’Sullivan (ASU) 7-6, 5-1 DNF

Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2*