Sun Devils host Wildcats for Senior Day Territorial Cup match-up

(Photo: Sammy Nute/WCSN)

The rackets have been hot for the Arizona State women’s tennis team who are on a five-match winning streak and have turned their season around after a mid-season slump. This weekend, the team prepares for their season finale against Territorial Cup rival No. 39 Arizona.

After a successful trip to the Rockies last weekend the No. 31 Sun Devils (13-8, 5-4 Pac-12) extended their winning streak to five games. The Wildcats (16-10, 4-5 Pac-12) have also had a recent hot steak winning their past three games.

ASU and Arizona have had similar seasons up to this point. Both teams started strong to open the season, but when conference play began, each team struggled and dropped their first four games in Pac-12 play.

The Wildcats’ biggest win of the season came against, at the time, No. 25 Yale, winning the match 4-3. Arizona opened the match strong and took the doubles point, as well as the lead 3-1. They then let the match slip back to 3-3 after losing two singles matches, but graduate student Kayla Wilkins was the savior of the day by winning her singles match to give the Wildcats a 4-3 victory.

The rivalry of these two schools goes back to 1985. But since 1999 it’s been pure domination for the Sun Devils, they have won the past 26 matches out of 29 against the Wildcats. They currently have an eight-match winning streak against them, and look to push that to nine Saturday. The all-time record is in favor of the Sun Devils 48-12.

The Wildcats are 4-1 in their last five matches with their biggest win coming last weekend against the No. 51 Utah Utes by a score of 4-2

The lone loss was against No. 26 Washington which the Wildcats got dismantled 4-0. No one was able to find their footing in the match, but the closest they were to a point was getting the double point. If things had gone differently on court 2, freshman Teja Tirunelveli and graduate student Kayla Wilkins would’ve secured their team a point. Instead, they lost the doubles decider 6-4.

ASU swept No. 26 Washington, 4-0 just two weeks ago.

The star player for the Wildcats in this stretch has been No. 98 sophomore Reece Carter who is 4-1 in her last five matches and 14-11 overall in singles play for the season. She has been dominant in conference play with a record of 6-2.

The player with the most overall wins for the Wildcats has been Wilkins who boasts a record of 15-13. She is currently 5-4 in her last 10 matches.

For the Sun Devils, they’ll be fighting for a lot more on Saturday’s match, as it’s senior day for four players. Seniors Marianna Argyrokastriti, Rachel Hanford, Guilia Morlet and Natasha Hill will take part in their last game at the Whiteman Tennis Center.

Morlet who is ranked No. 73 on the ITA rankings looks to finish her regular season strong with a win in doubles as singles. She is currently 9-3 on the season in singles play and on the latest ITA ranking she and doubles duo freshman Sara Svetac were ranked No. 83. The duo is 9-1 on the season and has won their past eight doubles matches.

The Sun Devils who have gotten the most points for the squad is freshman Emilija Tverijonaite who has won 13 singles matches this year. She has a record of 13-3 and is ranked No. 107. She looks to end her season strong to ensure the seniors get a proper send-off.

You can’t talk about this Sun Devils squad without one duo. Sophomore Chelsea Fontenel and Junior Patricija Spaka are ranked No. 33 in the nation for doubles, holding a dominant 4-1 record in conference play.

Matchup of the Week

With Morlet and Carter battling it out, the match-up of Saturday’s contest will take place on court No.1 as both are ranked as the highest player for each of their respective teams in singles play.

They have never faced off with each other but Morlet has a 2-0 record in singles against Arizona with one game being unfinished in her sophomore year.

Carter is only a sophomore so she hasn’t battled the Sun Devils many times, but in her one match last year she battled Fontenel on court 2 with a score of (4-6, 2-4) before the match was declared unfinished due to ASU winning 4-0.