Women's tennis finishes ITA Southwest Regional with optimism
<p>The Arizona State women's tennis team faced another trying day at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Regional Championships. </p><separator></separator><div>Freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/cako_jacqueline00.html… Cako</a> fell in her quarterfinal match to No. 1 seeded Maria Sanchez of USC. After winning one set 3-6 and losing the second 6-2, Cako fought through her third set, but ended up losing narrowly, 7-5. <p>"I think she just ran out of gas, to be honest," said head coach <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/mcinerney_sheila00.htm… McInerney</a>. "She's a very good player, and a good player is going to respond to that. Maria played better as the match went on, and Jacqueline tired a bit." </p><separator></separator><p>It remains an extremely impressive start for the freshman, who made her debut this weekend after sitting out the beginning of the season due to illness. </p><separator></separator><p>"It was certainly a good tournament for Jacqueline," McInerney said. "This being her first tournament out there, she played a really competitive match, obviously, to lose 7-5 in the third. She has a couple of good ones under her belt." </p><separator></separator><p>Cako and doubles partner <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/hein_micaela00.html">M… Hein</a> were victorious in their round of 16 match against Khunpak Issara and Ali Walters of Pepperdine. Unfortunately, Hein and Cako were defeated in the quarterfinals round to Sanchez and Kaitlyn Christian of USC. </p><separator></separator><p>"They got off to a slow start, and were down 7-1 early before they knew what hit them. You can't dig yourself that deep into a hole and try to come back," said McInerney. "For their first time playing together, certainly or Jacqueline, they played some good matches." </p><separator></separator><p>The next event for the team will be the 15th Annual Thunderbird Invitational Tournament, held in Tempe, Ariz. at the Arizona State University Whiteman Tennis Center beginning November 5.</p><separator></separator></div></p>