Evan Millstein, SDA Student Assistant
EUGENE, Ore. -- The No. 37 Arizona State men's tennis team conceded its first doubles point of conference play, but won four-straight sets to take the win over Oregon, 4-1.
The tandem of Cormac Clissold and Thomas Luarent defeated Michaël Geerts and Tim Ruehl, 6-4. Andrea Bolla and Makey Rakotomalala fell to Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry to give the No. 41 Ducks the advantage headed into singles action.
Benjamin Hannestad and William Kirkman were knotted in a battle 5-5 with Akihiro Tanaka and Charles Roberts, but were suspended as the Ducks had taken the first point. The pair debuted as a tandem in ASU's last matchup over Utah, taking a 7-6 victory on court three.
ASU (12-7) responded down 0-1, and didn't surrender a point to Oregon (13-7) in the remaining matches.
The Devils started with its captain No. 44 Michael Geerts, who defeated No. 22 Thomas Laurent 6-3,6-1 to notch victories in 12 of his last 13 matchups. Geerts' victory in the ranked face off brought him just over .500 in matches against ranked opponents this season, holding a 4-3 record including a victory over then-No. 2 Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State.
Makey Rakotomalala picked up his fourth consecutive win on Saturday, taking down Akihiro Tanaka 7-5,6-2. After losing an uncharacteristic five-straight matches in early March, Rakotomalala improves to 2-1 in conference play and seems to be back in his stride.
No. 66 Benjamin Hannestad got back on the right track, improving to 8-4 in dual play with the win over Simon Stevens 6-4,7-6. Hannestad missed a few games with a minor injury and had an 0-2 record since his return, but is looking to right the ship this weekend as he will likely put his perfect record against ranked opponents on the line tomorrow after an easy victory today.
Tim Ruehl notched his third match-clinching point, tying a team-high with Bolla and Hannestad. Ruehl's 3-6,6-4,6-3 win gives the Sun Devils their 13th victory over Oregon its last 16 meetings. Ruehl has also been a silent success this season, notching his eighth solo victory on the season.
ASU's final road trip to the Pacific Northwest makes its final stop at No. 40 Washington on Sunday, April 8 at 1 p.m. MST.
The match is available to be viewed online here.
NO. 37 ARIZONA STATE: 4
NO. 41 OREGON: 1
Doubles Finishes:
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles Finishes:
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2, 4
EUGENE, Ore. -- The No. 37 Arizona State men's tennis team conceded its first doubles point of conference play, but won four-straight sets to take the win over Oregon, 4-1.
The tandem of Cormac Clissold and Thomas Luarent defeated Michaël Geerts and Tim Ruehl, 6-4. Andrea Bolla and Makey Rakotomalala fell to Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry to give the No. 41 Ducks the advantage headed into singles action.
Benjamin Hannestad and William Kirkman were knotted in a battle 5-5 with Akihiro Tanaka and Charles Roberts, but were suspended as the Ducks had taken the first point. The pair debuted as a tandem in ASU's last matchup over Utah, taking a 7-6 victory on court three.
ASU (12-7) responded down 0-1, and didn't surrender a point to Oregon (13-7) in the remaining matches.
The Devils started with its captain No. 44 Michael Geerts, who defeated No. 22 Thomas Laurent 6-3,6-1 to notch victories in 12 of his last 13 matchups. Geerts' victory in the ranked face off brought him just over .500 in matches against ranked opponents this season, holding a 4-3 record including a victory over then-No. 2 Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State.
Makey Rakotomalala picked up his fourth consecutive win on Saturday, taking down Akihiro Tanaka 7-5,6-2. After losing an uncharacteristic five-straight matches in early March, Rakotomalala improves to 2-1 in conference play and seems to be back in his stride.
No. 66 Benjamin Hannestad got back on the right track, improving to 8-4 in dual play with the win over Simon Stevens 6-4,7-6. Hannestad missed a few games with a minor injury and had an 0-2 record since his return, but is looking to right the ship this weekend as he will likely put his perfect record against ranked opponents on the line tomorrow after an easy victory today.
Tim Ruehl notched his third match-clinching point, tying a team-high with Bolla and Hannestad. Ruehl's 3-6,6-4,6-3 win gives the Sun Devils their 13th victory over Oregon its last 16 meetings. Ruehl has also been a silent success this season, notching his eighth solo victory on the season.
ASU's final road trip to the Pacific Northwest makes its final stop at No. 40 Washington on Sunday, April 8 at 1 p.m. MST.
The match is available to be viewed online here.
NO. 37 ARIZONA STATE: 4
NO. 41 OREGON: 1
Doubles Finishes:
- No. 31 Clissold/Laurent (UO) def. Geerts/Ruehl (ASU) | 6-4
- Stevens/Gentry (UO) def. No. 86 Bolla/Rakotomalala (ASU) | 6-2
- Hannestad/Kirkman (ASU) vs. Tanaka/Roberts (UO) | 5-5, unf.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles Finishes:
- No. 44 Michael Geerts (ASU) def. No. 22 Thomas Laurent (UO) | 6-3, 6-1
- Simon Stevens (UO) vs. No. 66 Benjamin Hannestad (ASU) | 6-4, 7-6
- Akihiro Tanaka (UO) vs. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) | 7-5, 6-2
- Cormac Clissold (UO) vs. Tim Ruehl (ASU) | 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
- Ty Gentry (UO) vs. Andrea Bolla (ASU) | 4-6, 7-6, 1-2 unf.
- Riki Oshima (UO) vs. William Kirkman (ASU) | 6-4, 3-6, 4-4 unf.
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2, 4