TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 31/23 Sun Devil men's tennis extended their win streak to a season-high six today, gliding past No. 45 Utah 4-0. The match represented senior day for the lone senior Justin Roberts for ASU's final home match of the season.
"Justin finishing his career here is special, and it's something you never would have dreamt of," coach Matt Hill said. "He's a special player and person, and you have kids like that come along and are program changers. Justin is 100% one of those guys for me in terms of not only what he does on the court but also off the court."
The Sun Devils (13-10) made quick work of the Utes in doubles play off the backs of No. 8 Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellovsky and No. 81 Andrea Bolla/Tim Ruehl. The latter finished up first, using just 20 minutes to put up a 6-1 win on court two for their team-leading 13th win as a pair.
Ponwith/Kellovsky finished up soon after to the tune of a 6-4 victory to clinch the first point for ASU and extend their win streak as a pair to six-straight. The Devils duo has taken eight wins in their last 10 decisions.
"You can tell we're more comfortable when we're confident and things are swinging," Hill said. "It's not easy, and it's taken a lot of work and a lot of people to get to this point."
Taking a 1-0 lead into singles for the 17th time this season, ASU easily transitioned their momentum into singles play, with the bottom three courts coming up big for the Sun Devils in their 13th win on the season.
"We knew Utah could play because they just beat Stanford last week who is No. 12 in the country," Hill said. "They have a really good team, but I thought the guys handled it really well and looked clean in singles and doubles."
Ruehl got off to a hot start and never looked back, taking his first set 6-1 and following with a 6-2 second set win to put ASU up 2-0. The victory is the third-straight for the German and his seventh win in his last 10 decisions.
Bolla launched a huge comeback in his first set, originally going down 4-1 late. He put up six game points to eventually take his first set 7-5 to swing the pendelum in his direction. The Italian took his second set 6-3 to take a victory on four four, his eighth of the year.
"I think we're playing smarter which is something we've been talking about a lot over the course of the season," coach Matt Hill said. "We're doing a much better job of making good decisions and that's really big for us."
With four more courts still in action and the Sun Devils needing just one more single win to clinch, Rakotomalala became the next man up with another straight-set win over his opponent. He went back and forth with his opponent in the first set but eventually coming out on top, 7-5. Leading 2-1 early in set two, Rakotomalala used a 3-1 game point run to go up big late, eventually winning in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the Sun Devil victory.
The Sun Devils finish out the regular season next weekend against the LA schools. First serve with UCLA on Friday and USC on Saturday, both set for 3 p.m. MST. Fans can keep up with the action all season-long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.
"Justin finishing his career here is special, and it's something you never would have dreamt of," coach Matt Hill said. "He's a special player and person, and you have kids like that come along and are program changers. Justin is 100% one of those guys for me in terms of not only what he does on the court but also off the court."
The Sun Devils (13-10) made quick work of the Utes in doubles play off the backs of No. 8 Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellovsky and No. 81 Andrea Bolla/Tim Ruehl. The latter finished up first, using just 20 minutes to put up a 6-1 win on court two for their team-leading 13th win as a pair.
Ponwith/Kellovsky finished up soon after to the tune of a 6-4 victory to clinch the first point for ASU and extend their win streak as a pair to six-straight. The Devils duo has taken eight wins in their last 10 decisions.
"You can tell we're more comfortable when we're confident and things are swinging," Hill said. "It's not easy, and it's taken a lot of work and a lot of people to get to this point."
Taking a 1-0 lead into singles for the 17th time this season, ASU easily transitioned their momentum into singles play, with the bottom three courts coming up big for the Sun Devils in their 13th win on the season.
"We knew Utah could play because they just beat Stanford last week who is No. 12 in the country," Hill said. "They have a really good team, but I thought the guys handled it really well and looked clean in singles and doubles."
Ruehl got off to a hot start and never looked back, taking his first set 6-1 and following with a 6-2 second set win to put ASU up 2-0. The victory is the third-straight for the German and his seventh win in his last 10 decisions.
Bolla launched a huge comeback in his first set, originally going down 4-1 late. He put up six game points to eventually take his first set 7-5 to swing the pendelum in his direction. The Italian took his second set 6-3 to take a victory on four four, his eighth of the year.
"I think we're playing smarter which is something we've been talking about a lot over the course of the season," coach Matt Hill said. "We're doing a much better job of making good decisions and that's really big for us."
With four more courts still in action and the Sun Devils needing just one more single win to clinch, Rakotomalala became the next man up with another straight-set win over his opponent. He went back and forth with his opponent in the first set but eventually coming out on top, 7-5. Leading 2-1 early in set two, Rakotomalala used a 3-1 game point run to go up big late, eventually winning in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the Sun Devil victory.
The Sun Devils finish out the regular season next weekend against the LA schools. First serve with UCLA on Friday and USC on Saturday, both set for 3 p.m. MST. Fans can keep up with the action all season-long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.