(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)
Arizona State women’s tennis wrapped up the final day of the Thunderbird Invitational on a high note, going undefeated across singles and doubles play on Sunday.
Junior Giulia Morlet and senior Sedona Gallagher had another successful day on the doubles courts, as they knocked off redshirt junior Elizabeth Goldsmith and sophomore Claudia De Las Herras of San Diego with a score of 6-1. The duo was nearly flawless and converted several break points to gain separation.
Juniors Rachel Hanford and Marianna Argyrokastriti bounced back from their day two doubles loss with a 6-1 victory over senior Danielle Willson and junior Madeline Atway of Ohio State. The pair cleaned up mistakes from its last performance and played aggressive at the net.
Hanford also turned the page from her singles loss on Saturday with a comeback win over Auburn junior Anastasia Astakhova, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. The Minnesota transfer has now forced her last two matches into three sets despite losing the first frame each time.
“[Hanford is] a competitor,” head coach Sheila McInerney said. “If she happens to lose the first set, she is going fight back and win, she’s never going to be out of it.”
Morlet capped off her unbeaten tournament with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Auburn freshman Kaitlyn Carnicella. The France native – ranked as the highest ITA player in the tournament– looked aggressive with powerful strokes and hit multiple point-winning shots, including a loud break point overhead to win a game in the first set.
Similar to Hanford, Gallagher recovered from her Saturday loss with a straight-sets victory (6-4, 6-2) against Auburn junior Adeline Flach. Gallagher won points quickly with high-IQ decision making, using deep lobs to limit her opponent’s chances on offense.
The senior capped off her second set with a match-point backhand shot down the line to end the weekend with a 2-1 record.
Argyrokastriti finished the invitational with an intense straight-set win over USC’s five-star freshman Emma Charney. The junior’s momentum carried over from a smooth 6-4 first set with a 5-3 lead in the second. Yet Argyrokastriti made several late unforced errors with missed volleys into the net, allowing Charney to come back and force a tiebreaker.
The Greece native managed to scrape her way to a 10-8 tiebreak victory off an errant shot from Charney to win the match.
With the invitational being the final tune-up event before the spring season, McInerney recognized the need to catapult off the momentum from the successful weekend.
“We have to make sure these kids are doing work on their own,” the 39th-year head coach said. “Take where we are at now and keep going.”
