SAN DIEGO/MALIBU – The Sun Devils travel to Southern California in their first road trip of the season to take on the San Diego Toreros and the Pepperdine Waves this weekend.
"We're super excited to get on the road for our first trip with the guys," coach Matt Hill said. "It's always such a great bonding experience to have the whole team on the road to get closer as a team."
The trip begins in San Diego, when the Devils take on the Toreros on Saturday. ASU has had a successful run against San Diego in the past, with the Devils holding a convincing 12-4 record in series history. The two programs met up most recently in 2002, when the Devils won by a comanding 7-0 final.
This season, the Toreros hold a 3-1 record in 2018, including a win over a familiar foe in No. 10 TCU. USD took the match by a closely contested 4-3, but their one loss comes from No. 24 Duke. San Diego last played Santa Barbara at home on Sunday, sliding by 4-3.
"They're a really well-coached team with a lot of strong players," Hill said. "They've had some good wins already this season, so we expect a challenge come Saturday."
On Sunday, the Devils drive a couple hours north to Malibu to take on Pepperdine in a 1 p.m. matchup. ASU hasn't been as successful historyically against the Waves, with Pepperdine holding a steady 16-6 series lead. The last time the two met, Pepperdine came out on top 4-1 in 2004.
Despite holding a 1-5 record on the season, the Waves are slated to place second in the West Coast conference in the conference's preseason coach's poll, behind San Diego. Pepperdine is fairly familliar with the Pac-12 so far this year, as they suffered loses to Pac-12 foes UCLA, Washington and Oregon among others.
Pepperdine returns home for the first time this spring after playing Alabama on the road, dropping the match 1-6, and a cancelled matchup with Mississippi State in Starkville.
"They've been struggling a little bit more to start the season, but they always compete with great intensity and teamwork," Hill said. "Both teams are going to be a great challenge for sure."
ORACLE/IT(YAY)
ITA released their first singles poll of the season on Feb. 7, and three Devils found themselves on the list. No. 38 Benjamin Hannestad and No. 70 Michael Geerts remained on the list after ranking 44 and 51, respectively, in the preseason poll.
Makey Rakotomalala broke into the list this time around, debuting at No. 90 after a solid 5-1 start to the season in singles. Rakotomala's resume boasts wins over players from the top-ranked programs in the country, including No. 20 Duke and No. 6 Texas A&M.
Hannestad nabbed the Devils a singles point against Duke, defeating Catalin Mateas in two sets, 7-5, 6-3. He notched another win against Cal Poly in the final day of the ASU Invite to improve to 2-3 on the season.
Stanford is the only Pac-12 school to have more players ranked by the ITA, as its four players take the top spot in the conference.
The first #OracleITARankings of 2018 are out featuring 3 Sun Devils! ?? pic.twitter.com/3RJEaGI42W
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) February 7, 2018
BRING IT ON
ASU is playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation in its comeback season, and that is something first-year mentor Matt Hill plans on making a tradition. The Sun Devils will face Big Ten champion Ohio State and began its season hosting No. 25 Duke, Big 12 champion TCU and SEC co-champion Texas A&M. Ohio State who has won the Big Ten title seven times, including a title in 2017.
GET TO KNOW THE WAVES
Michaël Geerts and Tim Ruel are no stranger to the Waves, as Geerts faced Nicolas Baez and Ruehl faced Max Mendelsohn of Pepperdine at the ITA Southwest Regional, which Pepperdine hosted, in the fall. Geerts defeated Baez 6-4 6-4 before withdrawing in the semifinals due to injury, while Ruehl defeated Mendelsohn 7-6 (1) 7-6 (2) in the round of 64.
Pepperdine is slated to place second in the West Coast conference in the conference's preseason coaches poll, behind San Diego. Senior Pedro Iamachkine was voted to the 2018 preseason All-WCC team after posting a 22-11 overall record last season.
This season, the waves are 1-5, suffering loses to Pac-12 foes UCLA, Washington and Oregon among others. Pepperdine returns home for the first time this spring, after playing Alabama on the road, dropping the match 1-6, and a canceled matchup with Mississippi State in Starkville.
GET TO KNOW THE TOREROS
Geerts also matched up with a Torero in the fall, facing off against Joel Gamerov in the same ITA Southwest Regional. Geerts came out on top, defeating Gamerov 6-1 6-1 in the round of 16.
The Toreros are picked to win the West Coast Conference according to a preseason coach's poll, grabbing 47 points. USD placed one on the 2018 Preseason All-WCC team in Gui Osorio, who notched a 16-8 record in 2017.
USD faced familliar faced in No. 10 TCU and No. 24 Duke, winning a tightly contested match against the Horned Frogs 4-3 and losing to the Blue Devils 4-0. The Toreros closed their homestand with a win over UC Santa Barbara last Sunday.
MR. WORLDWIDE(S)
With just one Devil from the United States, the men's tennis team is one of the most diverse teams within ASU Athletics. Every single Devil represents a different nation, as the nine men hail from nine different countries across the world: Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, the U.S. and Great Britain.
Thomas Wright, Will Kirkman, Benjamin Hannestad, Michael Geerts and Makey Rakotomalala arrived at Arizona State for the Spring 2017 semester, taking classes and practicing as a team before the team would officially become a program the following spring. The remaining four were all incoming freshman this fall, joining the team in August.
UP HILL BATTLE
Coach Matt Hill is no stranger to adversity. Upon taking the helm at South Florida in 2012, the Bulls hadn't been to the NCAA Division I Championship since 2009. Hill's team finished 8-14 in his first season, but the tide quickly changed under his mentorship, as they compiled a 12-10 record the following year and then found themselves in the Championship for the first time in five years the next season. The team made it to the second round and were eliminated by Florida, but Hill's team made the tournament the next two years as well, finishing as high as the Sweet 16 in 2015.
USF were back-to-back-to-back AAC Champions in Hill's final three years in Tampa, compiling a 82-47 record. He was a three-time American Conference Coach of the Year and mentored a three-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Year in Roberto Cid.
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
The doubles pair of Benjamin Hannestad and Tim Ruehl won the 2017 ITA Southwest Regional Championship in the fall, and then Hannestad decided he wanted more and took home the singles title. Held at both Malibu's Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center and the Crest Tennis Courts and hosted by Pepperdine, Hannestad and Ruehl defeated Pedro Iamachkine and Lautaro Pane of Pepperdine 6-4, 6-3 to earn the doubles title, and then Hannestad closed the deal with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Nicolas Moreno de Alboran of UCSB.
. #ForksUp to #ITARegional SW champions Benjamin Hannestad and Tim Ruehl @ITA_Tennis @ITAonCampus @ASU @TheSunDevils @asufoundation pic.twitter.com/OTyx4kQfSl
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) October 23, 2017
USC and UCLA had dominated the tournament in the past, winning every singles titles since 2009 and five doubles championships. Hannestad defeated three Pac-12 competitors on the way to his singles title.
Thank you sir may I have another ( #ITARegional Championship)! Congratulations Benjamin Hannestad ( 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 for those keeping score) pic.twitter.com/c63DPWy9Ya
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) October 23, 2017
RAK IT UP
Owner of the best singles record on the Devils, Makey Rakotomalala opened up his ASU career in a big way. Rakotomalala owns a 5-1 singles record, including wins over then-No. 41 Jordi Arconada of Texas A&M, who participated in the French and U.S. Open along with Wimbledon as a junior.
Rakotomalala swept the ASU Invitational in singles, playing a third set only once on the weekend to glide past LMU, Fresno State and Cal Poly.
Energy on another level ?????? pic.twitter.com/uApT9zxzR4
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) February 7, 2018