TEMPE, Ariz. – Sun Devil men's tennis handed UNLV their first loss of the season tonight with a 4-3 win over the Rebels this evening at the Whiteman Tennis Center. Andrea Bolla's 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 victory secured the win for ASU.
"Andrea is the kind of guy that has incredible gifts and talents but sometimes kind of doubts and second guesses himself," coach Matt Hill said. "To see him maturing and trusting himself more, that's a real special thing as a coach."
The Sun Devils got off to a slow start, dropping the doubles point with losses on courts one and two.
"I think the guys learned that when things aren't going well on the court, they really need to come together to leverage the fact that they're on a team that can help each other get through tough moments," Hill said. "I thought they did a good job of that tonight."
Heading into singles play, Lerby again made quick work of his opponent, taking a 6-2, 6-2 win to tie the team score up at 1-1. The win is the fifth of the season for the Netherlands native, the most by a freshman this season on the Sun Devils.
His doubles partner took a singles victory to put ASU up 2-1, taking a 6-4, 6-4 victory on court six over his opponent. With the lead, teammates Andrea Bolla and Tom LeBlanc looked to close it out with wins of their own.
The Rebels attempted to halt the ASU momentum with a singles win on court five, but LeBlanc didn't let that stop him from keeping things out of reach. The Frenchman notched a 7-5, 6-3 win, making the score 3-2 ASU.
UNLV again looked to secure momentum late, taking a victory on court two to tie the team score up at 3-3 late in the effort.
"Makey has been hurt a lot, and he was an incredible leader tonight for the group," Hill said. "He didn't win his match, but for him to go three sets banged up like he is and to keep the guys positive on the other side is the leadership we've been wanting."
Bolla was having none of it, dropping his first set 6-7 but battling back to a 6-4 second set victory to force a match-deciding third set. He went up 2-1 early in his third set and transferred that into a 3-2 lead late. The war went on from there, with the match heading into an intense tiebreaker tied 6-6, with the Italian eventually coming out on top to clinch the 4-3 win.
The Sun Devils are back in action next weekend as they welcome two of the top teams in the nation into the Whiteman Tennis Center in Wake Forest and Baylor. Fans can keep up with the action all season long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.
"Andrea is the kind of guy that has incredible gifts and talents but sometimes kind of doubts and second guesses himself," coach Matt Hill said. "To see him maturing and trusting himself more, that's a real special thing as a coach."
The Sun Devils got off to a slow start, dropping the doubles point with losses on courts one and two.
"I think the guys learned that when things aren't going well on the court, they really need to come together to leverage the fact that they're on a team that can help each other get through tough moments," Hill said. "I thought they did a good job of that tonight."
Heading into singles play, Lerby again made quick work of his opponent, taking a 6-2, 6-2 win to tie the team score up at 1-1. The win is the fifth of the season for the Netherlands native, the most by a freshman this season on the Sun Devils.
His doubles partner took a singles victory to put ASU up 2-1, taking a 6-4, 6-4 victory on court six over his opponent. With the lead, teammates Andrea Bolla and Tom LeBlanc looked to close it out with wins of their own.
The Rebels attempted to halt the ASU momentum with a singles win on court five, but LeBlanc didn't let that stop him from keeping things out of reach. The Frenchman notched a 7-5, 6-3 win, making the score 3-2 ASU.
UNLV again looked to secure momentum late, taking a victory on court two to tie the team score up at 3-3 late in the effort.
"Makey has been hurt a lot, and he was an incredible leader tonight for the group," Hill said. "He didn't win his match, but for him to go three sets banged up like he is and to keep the guys positive on the other side is the leadership we've been wanting."
Bolla was having none of it, dropping his first set 6-7 but battling back to a 6-4 second set victory to force a match-deciding third set. He went up 2-1 early in his third set and transferred that into a 3-2 lead late. The war went on from there, with the match heading into an intense tiebreaker tied 6-6, with the Italian eventually coming out on top to clinch the 4-3 win.
The Sun Devils are back in action next weekend as they welcome two of the top teams in the nation into the Whiteman Tennis Center in Wake Forest and Baylor. Fans can keep up with the action all season long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.