Good news: Junior women’s tennis player Hannah Grady was named the Big West Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Bad news: Grady and the rest of the Long Beach State women’s tennis team won’t have much time to celebrate, courtesy of No. 39-ranked Arizona and No. 18-ranked Arizona State.
LBSU (3-3) hits the road to the desert, where it will meet the 5-1 Wildcats and 5-0 Sun Devils in road contests this weekend.
Grady, who is not nationally ranked but No. 1 in the Big West Conference, was successful in singles and doubles competition as the team swept through No. 52-ranked San Diego State 7-0 at El Dorado Park. Grady defeated the Aztecs’ Julia Trunk, ranked 61st in the country, 6-0 and 6-1 and teamed with senior Stephanie Bengson to win 8-4 in doubles play. Grady’s singles record is at 12-5, and she is likely to face Arizona’s No. 46-ranked Danielle Steinberg, who is 11-2 this season in singles play.
The Wildcats have only played two ranked teams this season, going 1-1 in the contests. Arizona defeated No. 72-ranked Texas Tech, but suffered its only loss of the season to No. 33-ranked Florida International. The 49ers enter this weekend ranked 38th, and will meet Arizona on Saturday.
The Wildcats, as good as they are, will be the easier of the two opponents. Undefeated ASU will be the tougher competition, as it features two nationally ranked players. ASU’s Laila Abdala is ranked 42nd in the country, while Kelsey McKenna is 93rd.
Abdala is 15-8 in singles play this season, while McKenna is 19-4 this season. The Sun Devils have been successful against ranked teams this season, as they shut out Florida International 7-0 and held off Texas 4-3.
All five victories have come at home for the Sun Devils, which lost on their home court only twice last season.
