After returning home from its California road trip, the ASU Men’s tennis team secured a 4-1 win over the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe.
The match started off with a windy start, but that didn’t stop the Sun Devils from taking the double point.
“The wind was a huge factor," said freshman Will Kirkman. "I felt like that really came into play and we handled it really well.”
Senior Michael Geerts and partner sophomore Tim Ruehl secured ASU’s first doubles win of the match on court one against seniors Bart Van Leijsen Jorge Escutia, 6-2.
Soon after on court two, sophomore Baonoromandresy Rakotomalala and partner freshman Andrea Bolla defeated New Mexico’s duo of junior Picky Hernandnez Tong and sophomore Dominic West, 6-3.
Continuing the winning momentum, Geerts, the Pac-12 player of the week, took victory on court one against Van Leijsen in two sets, 6-3, 6-4.
Freshman Benjamin Hannestad fell to Hernandez Tong on court two, 1-6, 4-6 giving the Lobos their only point of the match.
Rakotomalala helped the winning cause with his win on court three against Escuitia, 6-0, 6-4.
All ASU needed was one more win to ensure a Sun Devil win, and Bolla did not disappoint on court five with a two-set win against freshman Stepan Holis, 6-3, 6-4.
Although ASU won, assistant coach Michal Kokta said it was not the team's best performance.
"It was good to get back out there after we had a couple days off after the California trip," Kokta said. "I don’t think we played our cleanest match. I don't think we played our best match but we got a win and at the end of the day that’s the job we are supposed to do."
In the midst of conference season, Rakotomalala is very happy with the win.
"For one, its good for the confidence," Rakotomalala said. "It's good for our players. We look forward to the next game."
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils head to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Utes on March 31. The match is set to start at 1 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at sbrisen@asu.edu or follow @sophiabriseno on Twitter.
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