LUBBOCK - In a day that saw four third sets and five tiebreaks, No. 29 Sun Devil Men's Tennis (15-8, 2-3 Big 12) picked up a gritty 4-3 win over No. 66 Texas Tech (12-9, 2-4 Big 12) on Saturday evening's match that lasted over four hours. ASU was up 3-1 and fended off the Red Raiders' comeback with a third-set, tiebreak win from sophomore Niels Villard to clinch the victory.
After winning the doubles point, the Sun Devils took an early 1-0 lead. Three of the first sets went to tiebreaks, and the Sun Devils managed to win two of the three. Following a singles loss from the first position and a win from the sixth position, respectively, the visitors held a 2-1 lead.
Senior Shu Matsuoka picked up a three-set win to have ASU within one point of the win, but a three-set defeat for junior Jelani Sarr from the third position made it a 3-2 match. Senior Mathis Bondaz saw two tiebreaks in his three-set loss, which evened the score 3-3. Villard clinched the win with a three-set win, pulling away 9-7 in the third-set tiebreak.
Singles competition
- Niksa Arsic (TTU) def. Ofek Shimanov (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
- Tyler Stewart (TTU) def. Mathis Bondaz (ASU) 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 6-2
- Ludovico Vaccari (TTU) def. Jelani Sarr (ASU) 7-6(8), 5-7, 6-2
- Shu Matsuoka(ASU) def. Felipe Pagnacco (ASU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
- Niels Villard (ASU) def. Thiago Guglieri (TTU) 7-6(6), 5-7, 7-6(7)
- Roi Ginat (ASU) def. Sebastian Abboud (TTU) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 6, 4, 3, 2, 5
Doubles competition
- Jelani Sarr/Roi Ginat (ASU) def. Niksa Arsic/Thiago Guglieri (TTU) 6-4
- Milos Mikovic/Ofek Shimanov (ASU) def. Sebastian Abboud/Tyler Stewart (TTU) 6-4
- Niels Villard/Shu Matsuoka (ASU) vs. Felipe Pagnacco/Thomas VanDen Dooren 4-5 unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 2
Up next
The Sun Devils will remain on the road for an Easter matchup against No. 38 Oklahoma State on Sunday, April 5 at 11 a.m. MST.
Follow along
Fans can keep up with all the live action and news of Sun Devil Men’s Tennis by following @SunDevilMTennis on Instagram and X, Sun Devil Men’s Tennis on Facebook, and on sundevils.com.