DeVera Learns Value of Perseverance for Arizona State

Faye DeVera began her match against Washington junior Kristina Kraszewski the way she began her Arizona State career--very slowly.

DeVera, a three-time Times Orange County player of the year from Villa Park High School, was shanking balls so badly it appeared she didn’t belong on the same court with Kraszewski, the second-seeded player in the Pacific 10 women’s draw.

“I was so nervous,” DeVera said. “The balls were coming so fast at me and I wasn’t moving.”

But after losing two lopsided games, DeVera calmed down and took control. She remembered that she won junior titles in Ojai, that she had some success against Kraszewski in the juniors, and she forgot she was playing the fourth-ranked NCAA Division I player in the nation.

Suddenly, DeVera had won three games in a row, then six, then 12. In less than an hour, the 21-year-old had rolled over Kraszewski, 6-2, 6-0, Thursday afternoon at the Ojai Valley tennis tournament.

“This win is rated very high for me,” DeVera said. “She’s seeded second, it’s my first time playing the upper division [of the Pac-10] and I hadn’t beaten her in a while. It’s also big because this is Ojai and this feels like home to me.”

Although DeVera lost her second-round match later Thursday to USC’s Kara Warkentin, 6-3, 6-3, she finally appears to be her way to carving out a niche for herself.

It has taken her three years, but DeVera is starting to feel at home in Tempe, Ariz. After barely playing as a freshman and then considering a transfer to a smaller school, DeVera has turned into a dependable and formidable player in the NCAA’s toughest tennis conference.

“I don’t think she was working as hard as a freshman as she is now,” Arizona State Coach Sheila McInerney said. “She’s in great shape now and she’s playing like I thought she could.”

Maybe even better.

“I’m a lot faster now,” DeVera said. “I can get to a lot more balls. Now I believe I can stay out there forever and grind. I used to be so impatient.”

But not so impatient that she didn’t want to finish what she started in Tempe.

“There were a lot of personal things I went through that freshman year,” said DeVera, who played in only two dual matches as a freshman. “It was really hard to work so hard in practice and know you weren’t going to play on the weekend. I talked with my parents about leaving, but I liked the school, the coaches and environment too much to go.”

Said McInerney: “I really like Faye and know that first year was tough on her. But you can’t just stick someone in the lineup because you like her. There were a lot of good players ahead of her.”

DeVera’s perseverance paid off the next year. She played No. 5 singles and compiled a 15-6 record as a sophomore. This year, she is 12-7, playing mostly No. 2 and No. 3 singles for the 10th-ranked Sun Devils (12-7).

“Next year, we’re expecting her to take a step up higher,” McInerney said.

With No. 1 player Allison Bradshaw leaving a year early to turn professional, the top spot is wide open. DeVera isn’t ruling herself out.

“That’s something I’d really love to do,” said DeVera. “It depends how much I improve this summer.”

The No. 1 singles spot at a top-10 tennis school? That wouldn’t be too shabby for a 5-foot-3 grinder who wasn’t recruited by any other Pac-10 school.

“If Faye was taller, she could be one of the best players in the country,” McInerney said. “She doesn’t serve 100 miles an hour and she has to be strategically sound, but her technique is so good. She generates a lot of power for someone 125 pounds. She’s got a big game, even though she’s not that big.”

Big enough to play professional tennis?

“I’d love to see how I do,” she said. “I’d be ridiculous after playing all this time if I didn’t at least try it. I know it’s a rough lifestyle and all that, but I don’t want to be asking myself, ‘What if,’ when I get older.”