TEMPE \u2013 It\u2019s easy for coaches and players to talk about culture from the inside of a program. That talk gains credibility when the same view exists from the outside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the case of the 2025-26 ASU women\u2019s tennis team, that credibility comes from none other than former coach Sheila McInerney, who coached the Suns Devils for 40 seasons, from 1984-2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under McInerney\u2019s guidance, the Sun Devils made 36 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. She was twice named Pac-12 Coach of the Year and she reached the NCAA Sweet 16 18 times.<\/p>\n
McInerney attended every one of the team\u2019s home matches as a fan this season and noted how, even from the stands, she could see how close this team was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a super group of kids,\u201d McInerney said. \u201cThey\u2019re very good students, they carry themselves very well on and off the court. I think they get along very well as a team and I think you can tell just watching them play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under second-year coach Jamea Jackson, the team has the chance to do something the program has not seen in a quarter century.<\/p>\n
When the No. 15 Sun Devils face Denver in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe at 1 p.m. on Friday, they\u2019ll be seeking their 20th win of the season. That would match the mark set by the 2001 team and not reached since.<\/p>\n
ASU already has the blueprint for this matchup. The Devils swept Denver 4-0 on Feb. 21 at the Red Blue Invite in Tucson, perhaps giving them a psychological and tactical edge heading into the tournament.<\/p>\n
If the Sun Devils can win that match, a date with the winner of No. 19 UCLA vs. San Diego State awaits in the round of 32.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been working hard to get to this point,\u201d assistant coach Diego Nava said. \u201c(We\u2019ve had a) little bit of luck here and there but it\u2019s the fruit of the labor for sure. It starts way back and you\u2019ve got to put the time in on the court from the very beginning to get results like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sun Devils closed out the regular season by winning nine straight dual matches and finished with 19 wins, tying the third-most in program history since women’s tennis became an NCAA sanctioned sport in 1982.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hard work itself can only get a team so far, however. Nava said a team needs buy-in from the individuals to accomplish something truly special.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis stuff doesn\u2019t happen if there\u2019s one person on the team that doesn\u2019t show up,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a credit to the whole team. Our girls are very dedicated and they\u2019ve committed to the way we want to run our program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nava, who played five seasons of collegiate tennis at Loyola Marymount and Xavier and coached two at Louisville, said this team doesn\u2019t have any cliques and is one cohesive group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been around a team that supports each other this much. I think that\u2019s why they\u2019re so special,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
ASU had a hiccup in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, falling to Texas Tech 4-3 on April 16 to snap its nine-match winning streak, but there is some thought around the program that it may have refocused the Sun Devils and brought them even closer together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d argue this team is as close as a women\u2019s tennis team can get,\u201d sophomore Aiya Nupbay said. \u201cWe genuinely love each other and we care for each other deeply.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nava is part of a coaching staff that includes Charlotte Chavatipon, a two-time collegiate national champion with the University of Texas in 2021 and 2022, and Jackson, a former professional on the WTA Tour for six years and three-time Wimbledon competitor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of the season, Nava said that Chavatipon instilled in the players\u2019 and coaches\u2019 heads that the Sun Devils were a top team in the country and would be hosting an NCAA regional at Whiteman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nava said the team’s win over then No. 15 Pepperdine on the road in February served as the turning point for the season. It was there that belief started to set in. Down 3-1, the Sun Devils stormed back to take the last three singles matches in three sets to secure the upset win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nava noted that up until that point, Chavatipon\u2019s speech had just been words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until Sarang (Lim), our freshman, pulled out the win where I was like, \u2018OK, this is a turning point for sure,\u2019\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fast forward two months and the Sun Devils sit at No. 15 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings with that predicted home NCAA Tournament match now a reality.<\/p>\n
As the No. 16 seed, ASU is making its 38th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/04\/28\/asu-women-tennis-making-history\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org”>Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tASU women\u2019s tennis looks to make history as NCAA Tournament begins<\/p>\n
Zachary Grover, Cronkite News
\nApril 28, 2026<\/p>\n
TEMPE \u2013 It\u2019s easy for coaches and players to talk about culture from the inside of a program. That talk gains credibility when the same view exists from the outside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the case of the 2025-26 ASU women\u2019s tennis team, that credibility comes from none other than former coach Sheila McInerney, who coached the Suns Devils for 40 seasons, from 1984-2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under McInerney\u2019s guidance, the Sun Devils made 36 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. She was twice named Pac-12 Coach of the Year and she reached the NCAA Sweet 16 18 times.<\/p>\n
McInerney attended every one of the team\u2019s home matches as a fan this season and noted how, even from the stands, she could see how close this team was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a super group of kids,\u201d McInerney said. \u201cThey\u2019re very good students, they carry themselves very well on and off the court. I think they get along very well as a team and I think you can tell just watching them play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under second-year coach Jamea Jackson, the team has the chance to do something the program has not seen in a quarter century.<\/p>\n
When the No. 15 Sun Devils face Denver in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe at 1 p.m. on Friday, they\u2019ll be seeking their 20th win of the season. That would match the mark set by the 2001 team and not reached since.<\/p>\n
ASU already has the blueprint for this matchup. The Devils swept Denver 4-0 on Feb. 21 at the Red Blue Invite in Tucson, perhaps giving them a psychological and tactical edge heading into the tournament.<\/p>\n
If the Sun Devils can win that match, a date with the winner of No. 19 UCLA vs. San Diego State awaits in the round of 32.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been working hard to get to this point,\u201d assistant coach Diego Nava said. \u201c(We\u2019ve had a) little bit of luck here and there but it\u2019s the fruit of the labor for sure. It starts way back and you\u2019ve got to put the time in on the court from the very beginning to get results like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sun Devils closed out the regular season by winning nine straight dual matches and finished with 19 wins, tying the third-most in program history since women’s tennis became an NCAA sanctioned sport in 1982.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hard work itself can only get a team so far, however. Nava said a team needs buy-in from the individuals to accomplish something truly special.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis stuff doesn\u2019t happen if there\u2019s one person on the team that doesn\u2019t show up,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a credit to the whole team. Our girls are very dedicated and they\u2019ve committed to the way we want to run our program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nava, who played five seasons of collegiate tennis at Loyola Marymount and Xavier and coached two at Louisville, said this team doesn\u2019t have any cliques and is one cohesive group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been around a team that supports each other this much. I think that\u2019s why they\u2019re so special,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
ASU had a hiccup in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, falling to Texas Tech 4-3 on April 16 to snap its nine-match winning streak, but there is some thought around the program that it may have refocused the Sun Devils and brought them even closer together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d argue this team is as close as a women\u2019s tennis team can get,\u201d sophomore Aiya Nupbay said. \u201cWe genuinely love each other and we care for each other deeply.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nava is part of a coaching staff that includes Charlotte Chavatipon, a two-time collegiate national champion with the University of Texas in 2021 and 2022, and Jackson, a former professional on the WTA Tour for six years and three-time Wimbledon competitor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of the season, Nava said that Chavatipon instilled in the players\u2019 and coaches\u2019 heads that the Sun Devils were a top team in the country and would be hosting an NCAA regional at Whiteman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nava said the team’s win over then No. 15 Pepperdine on the road in February served as the turning point for the season. It was there that belief started to set in. Down 3-1, the Sun Devils stormed back to take the last three singles matches in three sets to secure the upset win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nava noted that up until that point, Chavatipon\u2019s speech had just been words.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until Sarang (Lim), our freshman, pulled out the win where I was like, \u2018OK, this is a turning point for sure,\u2019\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fast forward two months and the Sun Devils sit at No. 15 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings with that predicted home NCAA Tournament match now a reality.<\/p>\n
As the No. 16 seed, ASU is making its 38th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n
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