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.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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