Sun Devils beat Stanford for first time in nearly a quarter-century

 by Tim O'Donnell
 published on Monday, March 31, 2008

Jeffrey Lowman / THE STATE PRESS

ZONED IN: Sophomore Nadia Abdala focuses in on her next hit during ASU's upset win over the Stanford Cardinal on Friday. Nadia played with her sister, Laila Abdala, in the doubles competition.

The ASU women's tennis team accomplished something it hasn't achieved since before most ASU students were born.

It beat Stanford.

The Sun Devils, ranked No. 15 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, upset the No. 5 team in the nation in a thrilling 4-3 match Friday.

The victory over Stanford was the first in ASU coach Sheila McInerney's storied 24-year career.

"It was a great win for the program," McInerney said. "It's one thing we hadn't accomplished and it was very satisfying. Hopefully it won't take as long to beat them again."

After sweeping the doubles matches, the Sun Devils went on to win three out of the six singles matches.

"This is a team that believes we can beat anyone," McInerney said. "It didn't surprise us."

The young Sun Devils proved that experience is not everything, as they were led to victory by two freshmen.

Kelcy McKenna and Micaela Hein paired for a victory in doubles and followed it up with wins in singles.

McKenna beat Jessica Nguyen, No. 20 in the nation, for the second time this season.

"The freshmen have brought a great mentality to the team," McInerney said. "They take no prisoners and can handle the pressure of being the last ones on the court to decide the match."

But Sun Devils followed up their upset victory with a 5-2 loss to California on Saturday.

California, ranked No. 8, and Stanford beat the Sun Devils earlier in the season and beat them handily.

McInerney said the home crowd was a key to making this weekend's matches a lot more competitive than the last time the Sun Devils played theses teams.

"We have one of the best followings in the Pac-10," McInerney said. "We've played really well at home. Even the Cal loss was a lot closer than the 5-2 score."

The Sun Devils got out to an early lead after winning the doubles point, but lost five out of the six singles matches.

Four singles matches went to three sets, though ASU only managed to win one.

McKenna led the Sun Devils again with two victories on the day including the Sun Devils only singles win. She finished the weekend with a 4-0 record.

The Sun Devils are now 12-4 on the season and 4-4 against Pac-10 opponents, which isn't all that bad considering the Pac-10 is one of the strongest conferences in the nation, boasting four of the top-15 ranked teams.

"These matches help both teams," McInerney said. "We can really build off this weekend, and come Monday, we'll be better at practice. We played well, and we'll take a lot of confidence out of this weekend."

The Sun Devils continue their season Friday with a match at Washington State and follow it up Saturday against Washington in Seattle.

"We don't know too much about them, but it's one of the toughest road trips of the season," McInerney said of the Washington schools. "You don't know if you're going to get rain, sleet or snow."

Men lose for first, then second time

For the first time in a duals match this season, the ASU men's tennis team came away with a loss.

The No. 15 Sun Devils were not only defeated by Stanford on Friday, they were shutout, losing 7-0 in their Pac-10 opener.

ASU had previously beaten Stanford, 4-3, in February.

The Sun Devils lost all three doubles matches and failed to recover against the Cardinal.

The Sun Devils had a close match with California the following day, but finished with another 4-3 loss.

The Sun Devils swept the doubles matches and won the top two singles matches but failed to hang on, losing the last four singles matches.

Sophomores Andres Arango and Matt Brooklyn led the Sun Devils with wins in doubles and singles.

The key match on the day came at the No. 3 spot.

ASU freshman Harry Skinner lost the first set 3-6 in his match against Cal's Eoin Heavey but came back to win the second set 7-5. Still, Skinner lost the third set 4-6, which allowed Cal to clinch the day's event.

The two losses dropped ASU to 12-2 on the season.

The Sun Devils finish out the regular season with five straight home matches including two this weekend against Oregon and Washington.

Reach the reporter at: todonnel@asu.edu.