TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 25 Sun Devil men's tennis quickly glided past the cross-town Grand Canyon University, taking the match 4-0 in under two hours on Thursday afternoon at the Whiteman Tennis Center. The win marked the first on the season for the men in their season-opener against the Lopes.
"Right now, it's a learning process for us with our young guys, but I thought it was positive today," head coach Matt Hill said. "There are certainly some things we have the opportunity to work on as well."
The Sun Devils (1-0) showed off their youth in the matchup, sending three freshmen to the court in doubles including the all-freshmen tandem of George Stoupe/Christian Lerby on court three. The pair made quick work of their opponent, taking their match 6-0 to put the Sun Devils on the advantage for the first point.
Continuing their team-wide doubles dominance from last season, Makey Rakotomalala/Tom LeBlanc followed soon after with a 6-3 win of their own to take the doubles point and the 1-0 advantage heading into the break.
The ASU freshmen held the majority during singles, with Lerby, LeBlanc, Stoupe and Jonah Wilson all making their singles debuts for ASU. Lerby jumped out to an early 3-1 in his match, taking three more games to take his first set, 6-1. He didn't stop there, winning six-straight games in his second set to secure his first win as a Sun Devil, 6-1, 6-0.
"Christian is a fantastic player and you're going to hear about him a lot," Hill said. "He's going to do big things here because I can put him anywhere in the lineup and I know he can compete with anybody on any level of a team."
With a 2-0 lead and a second-set lead on four of the five remaining courts, the remaining Sun Devils battled to the finish line. Bolla crossed first, taking a 6-0, 6-3 win on court two. Rakotomalala finished barely minutes later with a 6-3, 6-1 victory to clinch the Sun Devil win in a speedy two hours. All other matches were abandoned.
The Sun Devils are back in action this Friday, looking for revenge against No. 8 TCU. Fans can keep up with the action all season-long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.
"Right now, it's a learning process for us with our young guys, but I thought it was positive today," head coach Matt Hill said. "There are certainly some things we have the opportunity to work on as well."
The Sun Devils (1-0) showed off their youth in the matchup, sending three freshmen to the court in doubles including the all-freshmen tandem of George Stoupe/Christian Lerby on court three. The pair made quick work of their opponent, taking their match 6-0 to put the Sun Devils on the advantage for the first point.
Continuing their team-wide doubles dominance from last season, Makey Rakotomalala/Tom LeBlanc followed soon after with a 6-3 win of their own to take the doubles point and the 1-0 advantage heading into the break.
The ASU freshmen held the majority during singles, with Lerby, LeBlanc, Stoupe and Jonah Wilson all making their singles debuts for ASU. Lerby jumped out to an early 3-1 in his match, taking three more games to take his first set, 6-1. He didn't stop there, winning six-straight games in his second set to secure his first win as a Sun Devil, 6-1, 6-0.
"Christian is a fantastic player and you're going to hear about him a lot," Hill said. "He's going to do big things here because I can put him anywhere in the lineup and I know he can compete with anybody on any level of a team."
With a 2-0 lead and a second-set lead on four of the five remaining courts, the remaining Sun Devils battled to the finish line. Bolla crossed first, taking a 6-0, 6-3 win on court two. Rakotomalala finished barely minutes later with a 6-3, 6-1 victory to clinch the Sun Devil win in a speedy two hours. All other matches were abandoned.
The Sun Devils are back in action this Friday, looking for revenge against No. 8 TCU. Fans can keep up with the action all season-long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.