Women defeat ASUUA may get to skip Regional play

After upsetting seventh-ranked Arizona State, 5-4 at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe, the head coaches spoke to each other.

Sheila McInerney, ASU head coach and member of the board that decides which teams advance straight to the NCAA Championships, told UA head coach Becky Bell that she thinks Arizona might be among the 10 teams selected to skip regional play.

"She said we may have a pretty good shot," Bell said.

"We have no bad losses and we now have two really good wins over Texas and Arizona State. We'll find out a week from (today)."

The official announcement of the 10 teams is released next Monday.

Arizona (14-8 overall, 3-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) lost to the Sun Devils earlier this year in a tight decision, and this meeting was no different except for the outcome.

The teams were tied at three points apiece going into doubles play after victories from UA seniors Vicky Maes, Khristen Pietrucha and Stephanie Sammaritano.

In the first meeting, the Sun Devils won all three doubles points. Arizona got the upper hand on Saturday.

ASU's No. 13 ranked pair of Stephanie Lansdorp and Katy Propstra defeated the No. 19 combination of Maes and Pietrucha, 8-1 to take a 4-3 lead.

However, UA's Betsy Miringoff and Monique Allegre tied things up again, winning 8-2 and the Wildcats' duo of Karen Goldstein and Sammaritano put the match away with their 8-6 victory over Alison Nash and Anna Moll.

Miringoff said the bonus of bypassing regionals, besides getting a weekend off, is the way it conflicts with finals week.

The regional tournament is May 9-11, the weekend between final exams.