TEMPE –
Sammi Hampton's trilling victory on court four completed the Sun Devils' first weekend sweep since the season-opener as they outlasted the Colorado Buffaloes 4-3 Saturday at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"Any win you can get in the Pac-12 is a good win, coach
Sheila McInerney said. "Give Colorado a lot of credit. I thought they played a great match, they had a lot of energy and competed great all day."
ASU went into singles play in an unfamiliar spot, down 1-0 after doubles, but the Devils got the four wins they needed to pick up their second-straight Pac-12 win on courts two, four, five and six.
"They sort of took it to us in the doubles point and set the tone a little bit for the singles," McInerney said. "I'm proud of the kids for fighting back. We haven't lost that many doubles points, but I told the kids afterward that you can't expect to win the doubles point every time. We'd been in that position before, but we figured out a way to get it done today."
Lauryn John-Baptiste bounced back after a rare doubles loss to take court two in straight-sets.
The sophomore made quick work of her opponent and was the first Devil off the court as she rolled to a 6-2, 6-3 win that knotted the match at 1-1.
Savannah Slaysman had a dominant outing Friday and her excellent play continued Saturday as she was the second Sun Devil off the courts with a 6-3, 6-4 victory under her belt.
After Slaysman put ASU up 2-1, the Buffaloes didn't budge and took a pair of three-setters on courts three and one in succession. Now down with two courts still in play, ASU needed to win both to take the match and inch closer to the crucial .500 mark.
Freshman
Samantha Alicea dropped her first set on court six, but she bounced back to win 7-5 in the second to force a third. Alicea blanked Ky Ecton in the final set, winning the match 6-0 and tying the dual-match score 3-3 with Hampton battling in the third set on court four.
Hampton found herself down early in her match with Megan Forster as she fell 7-6 in the first set. The Sun Devil junior came back to tie the match with a second-set win and their third-set would become a true winner-take-all scenario with the conference win on the line.
"It hasn't been an easy season for Sammi," McInerney said. "She's lost a couple of tough ones, but she's been working hard now that she's healthy and it's nice that it's paying off for her."
Hampton cruised to a 6-3 third-set win to clinch the match for the Sun Devils and bring them to 7-8 on the season and 2-4 in the grueling Pac-12 conference.
"You can't take any win for granted," McInerney said. "We have six kids in the lineup and not all of them are healthy, but they're battling and they battled well today."
ASU is scheduled to head to take on the Washington schools next weekend, but before the Devils continue their conference campaign, they'll host New Mexico State on Wednesday morning for a make-up match at Whiteman.
