The ASU men's tennis team gave a valiant effort this past weekend in Pac-10 play against two of the nation's best.
Despite suffering a 4-3 loss Friday at the Whiteman Tennis Center, the 38th-ranked Sun Devils (10-9, 3-4 Pac-10) forced sixth-ranked Stanford (19-2, 5-0) into one of its toughest matches of the season. Getting off to a quick start, ASU captured the doubles point with victories on the second and third courts.
Playing on the third singles court, Sun Devil freshman Clinton Letcher came up short against junior Scott Lipsky, losing 6-4, 1-6, 7-5. Even though ASU senior Mirza Duranovic and freshman Chris Stewart were victorious in singles action, their efforts weren't quite enough.
"We lost a heartbreaker," Sun Devil head coach Lou Belken said. "We fought hard, played hard, but just came up a little short."
ASU turned the tables Saturday with a 5-2 shocker over No. 17 California (15-6, 3-2). Taking the doubles point for the 14th time this year, the Sun Devils racked up a pair of wins on the strength of solid play from senior Matt Klinger and junior Mitchell Bowen, who defeated juniors John Paul Fruttero and Robert Kowalczyk 9-8 on the first court.
"We have felt good about our doubles all year long," Belken said. "All three positions are all really good."
Klinger also defeated Fruttero on the No. 1 singles court, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6. Coming off a loss Friday, Letcher notched a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win on the third court over California freshman Conor Niland.
"I don't think there was one guy in our lineup that didn't play hard last weekend. I really felt like we played some of our best tennis," Belken said. "Looking at our record, 10-9 isn't that good, but I have been saying all year that we are a good team. We are a young team, but a good team."
Among the nine losses the Sun Devils have sustained this year, all but one have come against teams ranked in the top 18. ASU will close out the season at the Whiteman Tennis Center when hosting Cal Poly (8-13) on Wednesday (1:30 p.m.), before facing No. 59 UA (8-11, 1-6) on Saturday (12 p.m.). The Sun Devils are 2-0 all-time against the Mustangs, and demolished the Wildcats 7-0 when the teams last met in early March.
Reach the reporter at amanda.bissette@asu.edu.
