Jan. 27, 2012

Tempe, Ariz. -

The 20th ranked Arizona State Sun Devils Women's tennis team will host Pac-12 foe USC, as well as nonconference competition from Sacramento State and Texas Tech this weekend at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe, Ariz.

Arizona State is fresh off a 2-0 start this past weekend defeating UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara handedly to open up the new year of duals play. The Sun Devils are led by 9th-ranked sophomore Jacqueline Cako who is projected to take the top seeding in singles play for the Devils.

Freshman Joanna Smith will look to build on her superlative performance from last weekend, a weekend in which she won her first two regular season collegiate matches. "It feels really good, I was a little bit nervous coming into it, but it's really exciting and I love the whole team aspect of it," said Joanna Smith. Smith defeated Jordan Dockendorf (UC Santa Barbara) 6-3,6-2 and Ellie Edles (UC Davis) 6-2,6-2 in singles, in addition to showing dominance in both of her doubles matches with her partner, senior Michelle Brycki.

The top seed of the weekend, Arizona State will take on the fourth seeded Red Raiders of Texas Tech starting at 1:30pm on Saturday. No. 2 of the weekend USC will take on No. 3 Sacramento State beginning at 9:30am.

Both Arizona State and USC are favored to advance out of the first round for a spot to compete in the championship on Sunday, which would earn the winning team the right to play at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship.

Arizona State swpet its two meetings with USC in 2011, and the two teams will match up once again on April 7 in Los Angeles, Calif.


Be sure to check with www.thesundevils.com for results and updates from this weekend's tournament. You can also follow the action by liking The Arizona State Women's Tennis page on Facebook.


Weekend Schedule
(1) Arizona State, (2) USC, (3) Sacramento State, (4) Texas Tech

Sat, Jan 28 – 9:30am (2v3)
Sat, Jan 28 – 1:30pm (1v4)
Sun, Jan 29 – 9:30 am (Consolation)
Sun, Jan 29 – 1:30pm (Championship)