After an impressive non-conference portion of the schedule, ASU men’s tennis still looks to win its first Pac-12 match of the season.
Arizona State was one singles match away from a 1-0 start to conference play against a top-five opponent. And now they sit 0-2 in Pac-12 play.
Last weekend, ASU lost its second game of Pac-12 play on the road to Utah. Although the team would’ve liked to start conference play with two wins, their Sun Devils’ two losses came against two strong squads in Stanford and Utah.
Stanford, who defeated ASU in their Pac-12 opener, is 16-2 and No. 4 in the ITA rankings. Additionally, Utah has exceeded expectations this year, with a 19-2 record and No. 32 ranking.
In spite of the 0-2 start to Pac-12 play, Arizona State still holds an 11-7 record and a No. 37 ranking.
This weekend, Arizona State heads to the Pacific Northwest for matches against Oregon and Washington.
The Sun Devils kick the weekend off Friday in Eugene with an afternoon match against the Ducks. Oregon is near ASU in the ITA rankings, sitting four spots behind the Sun Devils as the 41st-ranked team in the country.
Overall, Oregon is 13-6 on the season having defeated two top-50 teams in Wisconsin and Utah State. However, Oregon lost its first two conference matches at the hands of USC and UCLA.
Most recently, the Ducks earned their first win of conference play, defeating Washington 4-3 on the road last Saturday.
On the other hand, Washington is winless in conference play to start the 2018 season, and the Huskies sit just one game over .500 overall.
As previously mentioned, Washington was most recently defeated by Oregon, but they were also defeated by the Los Angeles schools.
Next: ASU Men’s Tennis: Sun Devils fall on the road to Utah 4-3
ASU will look to get to .500 this weekend with two wins, but they first have to defeat Oregon. Friday’s match against the Ducks begins at 3 p.m. PT as Arizona State awaits its first win in Pac-12 play.