ORLANDO, Fla. – Sun Devil men's tennis' No. 17 Nathan Ponwith and Dominik Kellovsky bowed out of the 2019 NCAA Doubles Championships today, battling but falling to Alabama's No. 11 Mazen Osama/Patrick Kaukovalta 6-2, 6-4 this afternoon.
Instead of playing the traditional one-set doubles match, championship play opts for a singles-style best-of-three sets game play. The Devils duo fell behind 4-0 early in their first set, but took two games to show some resiliency in the match. The pair eventually dropped their first set 6-2 to go into a second set.
Ponwith fired a service ace to put ASU up 1-0 early in set two and also excelled at the net to pair with Kellovsky's service game to go up 2-1 early. In the back-and-forth affair, both squads found themselves knotted at 4-all late, however, the Crimson Tide tandem won two-straight games to take the 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Closing out a successful season as a tandem, Ponwith/Kellovsky represented Arizona State's highest-ranked doubles pair since 1994 when they peaked at No. 8 earlier in the season.
Ponwith/Kellovsky have been one of the Sun Devils' best performing doubles pairs all season long, kicing off 2019 with three-straight wins including over a pair from then No. 1 and 2019 National Championship finalist Wake Forest.
The tandem's momentum never slowed, gliding past the No.1-ranked team and No. 1 seed heading into the doubles championships of Jimmy Benedeck/Sven Lah from Baylor. Ponwith/Kellovsky handed the Bear tandem a relatively easy 6-3 loss for their team-leading third win over a ranked opponent.
Ponwith/Kellovsky finished out the 2019 season with a team-best 13 wins while taking victories in six of their last 10 matches.
Instead of playing the traditional one-set doubles match, championship play opts for a singles-style best-of-three sets game play. The Devils duo fell behind 4-0 early in their first set, but took two games to show some resiliency in the match. The pair eventually dropped their first set 6-2 to go into a second set.
Ponwith fired a service ace to put ASU up 1-0 early in set two and also excelled at the net to pair with Kellovsky's service game to go up 2-1 early. In the back-and-forth affair, both squads found themselves knotted at 4-all late, however, the Crimson Tide tandem won two-straight games to take the 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Closing out a successful season as a tandem, Ponwith/Kellovsky represented Arizona State's highest-ranked doubles pair since 1994 when they peaked at No. 8 earlier in the season.
Ponwith/Kellovsky have been one of the Sun Devils' best performing doubles pairs all season long, kicing off 2019 with three-straight wins including over a pair from then No. 1 and 2019 National Championship finalist Wake Forest.
The tandem's momentum never slowed, gliding past the No.1-ranked team and No. 1 seed heading into the doubles championships of Jimmy Benedeck/Sven Lah from Baylor. Ponwith/Kellovsky handed the Bear tandem a relatively easy 6-3 loss for their team-leading third win over a ranked opponent.
Ponwith/Kellovsky finished out the 2019 season with a team-best 13 wins while taking victories in six of their last 10 matches.