OJAI, Calif. – Sun Devil men's tennis fell to No. 3 seed USC on day two of the 2018 Pac-12 Conference Championships, 4-0, on Thursday evening at Libbey Park.
The Sun Devils (14-10, 3-4) sent their usual doubles tandems to the court including two ranked pairs in No. 48 Andrea Bolla/Makey Rakotomalala and No. 88 Michaël Geerts/Tim Ruehl. The latter got off to a hot start, pulling out to a 3-1 lead early on over No. 9 Brandon Holt/Riley Smith. The Trojans fought back to a 4-3 deficit with the Devils duo still leading, but the match was abandoned when the Trojans clinched the doubles point.
Looking to defend their 2018 Pac-12 title, USC had two doubles pairs ranked in the top-10 by Oracle/ITA, as Rakotomalala/Bolla faced off against No. 7 Jack Jaede/Laurens Verboven. ASU dropped the matches on courts two and three to cede the doubles point and give the Trojans an 1-0 lead headed into singles play.
The Trojans carried their momentum into singles, scooping quick first-set victories on five courts. Rakotomalala fought hard in his first set, falling behind 4-1 to Laurens Verboven, but battled to a 4-4 tie and then 6-6 to head into a tiebreaking first set. The Frenchman pulled out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker and never looked back, taking his first set 7-6.
Rakotomalala, Ruehl and Bolla's matches were all abandoned with USC's win, with Rakotomalala and Bolla both holding leads in their current sets. Will Kirkman fell first on court six, losing 6-3, 6-0 to Jake Devine.
Geerts dropped just his second match in his last five, facing off against No. 11 Brandon Holt on court one. He surged late in his first set, but was unable to overcome the early deficit he suffered in both sets en route to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat.
Hannestad suffered the same fate shortly thereafter, facing off another ranked opponent in No. 82 Daniel Cukierman. The Dane fell behind early in both sets, eventually falling 6-3, 6-3 to cede the match to the Trojans by the final of 4-0.
With the loss, the Sun Devils' conference tournament run comes to an end. ASU looks to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, with the selection show on Tuesday, May 1. Fans can stream the selection show on NCAA.com.
NO. 6 ASU 0
NO. 3 USC 4
Doubles Finishes:
Singles Finishes:
The Sun Devils (14-10, 3-4) sent their usual doubles tandems to the court including two ranked pairs in No. 48 Andrea Bolla/Makey Rakotomalala and No. 88 Michaël Geerts/Tim Ruehl. The latter got off to a hot start, pulling out to a 3-1 lead early on over No. 9 Brandon Holt/Riley Smith. The Trojans fought back to a 4-3 deficit with the Devils duo still leading, but the match was abandoned when the Trojans clinched the doubles point.
Looking to defend their 2018 Pac-12 title, USC had two doubles pairs ranked in the top-10 by Oracle/ITA, as Rakotomalala/Bolla faced off against No. 7 Jack Jaede/Laurens Verboven. ASU dropped the matches on courts two and three to cede the doubles point and give the Trojans an 1-0 lead headed into singles play.
The Trojans carried their momentum into singles, scooping quick first-set victories on five courts. Rakotomalala fought hard in his first set, falling behind 4-1 to Laurens Verboven, but battled to a 4-4 tie and then 6-6 to head into a tiebreaking first set. The Frenchman pulled out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker and never looked back, taking his first set 7-6.
Rakotomalala, Ruehl and Bolla's matches were all abandoned with USC's win, with Rakotomalala and Bolla both holding leads in their current sets. Will Kirkman fell first on court six, losing 6-3, 6-0 to Jake Devine.
Geerts dropped just his second match in his last five, facing off against No. 11 Brandon Holt on court one. He surged late in his first set, but was unable to overcome the early deficit he suffered in both sets en route to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat.
Hannestad suffered the same fate shortly thereafter, facing off another ranked opponent in No. 82 Daniel Cukierman. The Dane fell behind early in both sets, eventually falling 6-3, 6-3 to cede the match to the Trojans by the final of 4-0.
With the loss, the Sun Devils' conference tournament run comes to an end. ASU looks to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, with the selection show on Tuesday, May 1. Fans can stream the selection show on NCAA.com.
NO. 6 ASU 0
NO. 3 USC 4
Doubles Finishes:
- No. 88 Geerts/Ruehl (ASU) vs. No. 9 Holt/Smith (USC) | 4-3, unf.
- No. 7 Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. No. 48 Rakotomalala/Bolla (ASU) | 6-2
- Cuckierman/Smith (USC) def. Hannestad/Kirkman (ASU) | 6-1
Singles Finishes:
- No. 11 Brandon Holt (USC) def. No. 20 Michael Geerts (ASU) | 6-4, 6-2
- No. 82 Daniel Cuckierman (USC) def. No. 84 Benjamin Hannestad (ASU) | 6-3, 6-3
- Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) vs. Laurens Verboven (USC) | 7-6, 1-0 unf.
- Tim Ruehl (ASU) vs. Thibault Forget (USC) | 3-6, 1-3 unf.
- Andrea Bolla (ASU) vs. Riley Smith (USC) | 3-6, 4-3 unf.
- Jake Devine (USC) def. William Kirkman (ASU) | 6-3, 6-0