TEMPE, Ariz — Fresh off a 4-0 loss to No. 2 Texas A&M, Arizona State women’s tennis needed a reset, as they returned home to the Whiteman Tennis Center.

The Sun Devils bounced back from that defeat, notching a 6-1 win over San Diego on Feb. 7. ASU earned the doubles point due to an insane comeback by junior Karsen Evans and sophomore Lily Taylor before winning 5 of the 6 singles matches.

Evans and Taylor trailed 2-5 against junior Charlotte Keitel and freshman Maria Shmakova, but they managed to rattle off wins in six consecutive sets to clinch the doubles point.

“Even though we were down 2-5, it had been a pretty close match,” Taylor said. “Karsen and I just knuckled down and we were able to get the job done.”

Head coach Jamea Jackson credited momentum to the comeback.

“The doubles point, even though it’s just one point, is such a momentum setter,” Jackson said.

To be able to find the goods when your back is up against the wall, that says something about your ability to compete and your competitive spirit.”

Jackson added she would like to see that type of aggression from the beginning of the match.

Junior Emilia Tverijonaite and senior Vivian Ovroosky comfortably won their match 6-2 over freshman Vilma Krebs Hyllested and junior Kristina Nordikyan.

In singles, the Sun Devils racked up five more team points. The main event featured No. 16 Tverijonaite for ASU going up against No. 94 sophomore Hannah Read for USD.

Tverijonaite won the match 6-4, 6-0 and showed a lot more aggression in the second set.

Jackson had high praise for Tverijonaite, saying she is always willing to improve her game and is very coachable.

“That’s the best thing about tennis, you have to be able to do it all,” she said. “To see someone want to become an all-court player and want to master all facets of the game at such a young age is rare and it’s a joy.”

The Toreros have been a consistent NCAA Tournament team the past several seasons, and Jackson was impressed to see her team perform so well against a worthy opponent.

“This is a good team that we played here today,” Jackson said. “They exceeded my expectation by a mile and I could not be prouder of the way that they competed.”

Looking ahead, the Sun Devils travel to Pepperdine for their final non-conference match of the season before Big 12 action. 

Taylor said Pepperdine will be a good test for the Sun Devils.

“We’ve had a lot of good matches to prepare ourselves for the season. Just keep fighting and see ourselves as a top 15 team,” Taylor said.

Jackson mentioned that previous matches against teams like TCU and Texas A&M have made her team battle-tested, and she is ready to see what the Big 12 season has to offer.

“We’re excited for Big 12 play,” Jackson said. “I think that we have a lot of the pieces, and we continue to need tough matches.”