Sun Devils Top Cougars, 6-1
PULLMAN, Wash. – The No. 26-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils captured five of the six singles matches en route to a 6-1 victory over No. 38 Washington State Friday afternoon at the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts.
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 7-6 overall, 0-2 in Pac-12 play. Arizona State improves to 8-3, 2-0.
In doubles play, the Cougars jumped out first with a 6-3 win at No. 2 when Melisa Ates and Yang Lee defeated Sammi Hampton and Marianna Argyrokastriti. In a tight match at No. 1, the nation's 50th-ranked duo, ASU's Ilze Hattingh and Lauryn John-Baptiste escaped with a 6-4 win over Michaela Bayerlova and Hikaru Sato, leaving the deciding match to No. 3. There, WSU's Pang Jittakoat and Fifa Kumhom rallied from 4-5 down to eventually force a tiebreaker, where they lead 4-2 before ASU's Guilia Morlet and Domenika Turkovic won the final five point to take the breaker, 7-4, giving ASU the opening point.
The Sun Devil lead grew to 3-0 in singles as Hampton defeated Sato 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 while Turkovic completed a 6-2, 7-5 win over Ates at No. 6.
Washington State's bright spot came at No. 5 singles when Savanna Ly-Nguyen captured a 6-4, 6-2 win over Argyrokastriti. The win was Ly-Nguyen's team-leading 10th this season against just one defeat.
ASU extended its lead to 4-1 when John-Baptiste needed a second-set tiebreaker to defeated Kumhom, 6-0, 7-6 (1) at No. 3 while Morlet ended up beating Jittakoat 7-6 (3), 6-2 at No. 4. The final match of the afternoon came down to a third-set tiebreaker. ASU's Hattingh, ranked No. 37, escaped with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3) win over No. 55 Bayerlova to complete the day.
The Cougars are next in action Sunday when they host Arizona at the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts. Match time is set for 1 p.m.
WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS
No. 26 Arizona State 6 def. No. 38 Washington State 1
March 12, 2021
WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts
Pullman, Wash.
DOUBLES
No. 1 #50 Ilze Hattingh/Lauryn John-Baptiste (ASU) def. Michaela Bayerlova/Hikaru Sato (WSU) 6-4
No. 2 Melisa Ates/Yang Lee (WSU) def. Sammi Hampton/Marianna Argyrokastriti (ASU) 6-3
No. 3 Guilia Morlet/Domenika Turkovic (ASU) def. Pang Jittakoat/Fifa Kumhom (WSU) 7-6 (4)
Order of Finish: 2,1,3
SINGLES
No. 1 #37 Ilze Hattingh (ASU) def. #55 Michaela Bayerlova (WSU) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3)
No. 2 #115 Sammi Hampton (ASU) def. Hikaru Sato (WSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Lauryn John-Baptiste (ASU) def. Fifa Kumhom (WSU) 6-0, 7-6 (1)
No. 4 Guilia Morlet (ASU) def. Pang Jittakoat (WSU) 7-6 (3), 6-2
No. 5 Savanna Ly-Nguyen (WSU) def. Marianna Argyrokastriti (ASU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 Domenika Turkovic (ASU) def. Melisa Ates (WSU) 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish: 2,6,5,3,4,6