TEMPE, Ariz. – Freshman George Stoupe registered his first collegiate win and junior Andrea Bolla followed with a win of his own as No. 25 Sun Devil men's tennis fell to No. 8 TCU, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
"There were times in games where we were dialed in and playing well enough to win, but we weren't doing that consistently enough and that catches up to you with a team like that and players like that," head coach Matt Hill said. "I thought doubles was good and it was competitive, but I thought we were in and out a little bit in terms of focus and intensity in singles."
Stoupe's win follows a couple days after fellow freshman Christian Lerby also put up his first collegiate win against GCU to showcase the young talent on the ASU squad.
The Horned Frogs took home the doubles point off wins on court two and three, leaving the top-30 battle of No. 27 Bolla/Tim Ruehl and No. 29 Alastair Gray/Jacob Fearnley unfinished at 6-all.
Down 1-0 heading into singles play, ASU again sent majority freshmen to the courts in Lerby on court three, Tom LeBlanc on four, Jonah Wilson on five and Stoupe on court six. TCU took four singles wins on courts one, three, four and five to clinch the match and pull out to a 5-0 lead, but the two teams elected to play the remaining two matches out.
"When you play a team like this, every point is difficult," Hill said. "They're a top-10 team and we have two of our top guys out, so it's a really good learning piece for our freshman to play these guys."
Stoupe finished up first, fighting to a 7-6 first set win. He followed up with a dominant second set to the tune of a 6-0 victory for his first singles win of his young Sun Devil career. Bolla followed soon after with a win of his own after dropping his first set, 4-6. He powered back to a 6-3 second set victory for a split, and the two men elected for a tiebreaker instead of a third set which the Italian won by a score of 10-5.
"Andrea responded really well to information after the first set and again in the tiebreak," Hill said. "He continues to grow his confidence because he's of piece of our puzzle that we know can be competitive against any of the top teams that we play."
The Sun Devils are back in action next weekend in Tennessee at ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament in Knoxville. Fans can keep up with the action all season-long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.
"There were times in games where we were dialed in and playing well enough to win, but we weren't doing that consistently enough and that catches up to you with a team like that and players like that," head coach Matt Hill said. "I thought doubles was good and it was competitive, but I thought we were in and out a little bit in terms of focus and intensity in singles."
Stoupe's win follows a couple days after fellow freshman Christian Lerby also put up his first collegiate win against GCU to showcase the young talent on the ASU squad.
The Horned Frogs took home the doubles point off wins on court two and three, leaving the top-30 battle of No. 27 Bolla/Tim Ruehl and No. 29 Alastair Gray/Jacob Fearnley unfinished at 6-all.
Down 1-0 heading into singles play, ASU again sent majority freshmen to the courts in Lerby on court three, Tom LeBlanc on four, Jonah Wilson on five and Stoupe on court six. TCU took four singles wins on courts one, three, four and five to clinch the match and pull out to a 5-0 lead, but the two teams elected to play the remaining two matches out.
"When you play a team like this, every point is difficult," Hill said. "They're a top-10 team and we have two of our top guys out, so it's a really good learning piece for our freshman to play these guys."
Stoupe finished up first, fighting to a 7-6 first set win. He followed up with a dominant second set to the tune of a 6-0 victory for his first singles win of his young Sun Devil career. Bolla followed soon after with a win of his own after dropping his first set, 4-6. He powered back to a 6-3 second set victory for a split, and the two men elected for a tiebreaker instead of a third set which the Italian won by a score of 10-5.
"Andrea responded really well to information after the first set and again in the tiebreak," Hill said. "He continues to grow his confidence because he's of piece of our puzzle that we know can be competitive against any of the top teams that we play."
The Sun Devils are back in action next weekend in Tennessee at ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament in Knoxville. Fans can keep up with the action all season-long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.