EAST LANSING, Mich. – Sun Devil men's tennis secured the doubles point and transferred that into a 7-0 sweep of Michigan State on Sunday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. The matchup between the Sun Devils and Spartans was the first in program history.
Heading into singles with a 1-0 lead, Ruehl again wasted no time, taking a 6-1, 6-2 win over his opponent in just 55 minutes. Bolla finished not long after with a 6-4, 6-2 victory to pull the Sun Devils within one point of clinching their third win of the season.
Freshman Christian Lerby clinched the victory for ASU, gliding past his opponent 6-0, 7-6 on court three. The remaining courts elected to play their matches out, with George Stoupe and Tom LeBlanc adding two more points through their own wins to make it a 6-0 Sun Devil lead.
"They did a great job in key moments of playing on their terms which is a good step forward for us," Hill said. "It's really great to see our young guys stepping up in these pressure situations, and there are so many positives today for us to build on moving forward."
This left Kirkman in play on court six to battle it out with his opponent. He took his first set 6-2, and dropped his second by the same score. Down 2-4 late in his match-deciding third set, Kirkman fought to tie it up at 4-4. It went down to the wire, sitting tied at 6-6 late, but Kirkman pulled through with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 victory to secure the 7-0 sweep for the Sun Devils.
ASU will take next weekend off and are back in action the following weekend, again on the road against Texas A&M. Fans can keep up with the action all season long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.
"It was a great team win today," coach Matt Hill said. "Michigan State does a great job of creating a home atmosphere where it can be difficult to play, and I thought our guys handled the environment really well and competed on all courts today."
Fresh off an upset of the No. 1 doubles pair in the country on Friday, No. 18 Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla started things off with a win in doubles play today. The pair took a 6-1 victory on court one and William Kirkman/Tom LeBlanc followed with a 6-3 win of their own to clinch the first point for ASU.Heading into singles with a 1-0 lead, Ruehl again wasted no time, taking a 6-1, 6-2 win over his opponent in just 55 minutes. Bolla finished not long after with a 6-4, 6-2 victory to pull the Sun Devils within one point of clinching their third win of the season.
Freshman Christian Lerby clinched the victory for ASU, gliding past his opponent 6-0, 7-6 on court three. The remaining courts elected to play their matches out, with George Stoupe and Tom LeBlanc adding two more points through their own wins to make it a 6-0 Sun Devil lead.
"They did a great job in key moments of playing on their terms which is a good step forward for us," Hill said. "It's really great to see our young guys stepping up in these pressure situations, and there are so many positives today for us to build on moving forward."
This left Kirkman in play on court six to battle it out with his opponent. He took his first set 6-2, and dropped his second by the same score. Down 2-4 late in his match-deciding third set, Kirkman fought to tie it up at 4-4. It went down to the wire, sitting tied at 6-6 late, but Kirkman pulled through with a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 victory to secure the 7-0 sweep for the Sun Devils.
ASU will take next weekend off and are back in action the following weekend, again on the road against Texas A&M. Fans can keep up with the action all season long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.