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ASU Men’s Tennis: Sun Devils clinch first conference win in wild weekend

By Carson Roberts

TEMPE, AZ - OCTOBER 10: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky performs on the field during the fourth quarter of the college football game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Sun Devil Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - OCTOBER 10: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky performs on the field during the fourth quarter of the college football game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Sun Devil Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /
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ASU men’s tennis earned their first conference win over the weekend, then followed it up with another victory two days later.

The 33rd-ranked Sun Devils (13-7) travelled to Eugene and dismantled No. 41 Oregon (14-7) 4-1, then headed north to Seattle to beat Washington (11-10) 4-3.

ASU had a rocky start in their match Friday against the Ducks, as they dropped the doubles point early.

Oregon’s Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry cruised past Andrea Bolla and Makey Rakotomalala in a 6-2 victory.

Soon after, Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent downed Michaël Geerts and Tim Ruehl in a much closer 6-4 game.

After the Ducks won the doubles point in two matches, the game between the Devils’ Benjamin Hannestad and Will Kirkman and the Ducks’ Akihiro Tanaka and Charles Roberts was left unfinished.

That matchup sat at a 5-5 tie before cancellation.

Following the Ducks’ easy win in doubles play, ASU needed a big showing in singles.

The Sun Devils proceeded to come out in full force.

Geerts handled Laurent 6-3, 6-1 to tie the match at 1-1. Rakotomalala inched past Tanaka 7-5 in the first set before taking over and winning the second as well 6-2.

Hannestad returned to form with a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Stevens. Leading up to the match, Hannestad had been struggling to find his rhythm after a midseason injury.

Ruehl stumbled early against Clissold, but eventually pulled out a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win to seal ASU’s first conference victory.

Following a memorable outing Friday, the Sun Devils battled the Huskies Sunday to complete their road trip.

Contrary to their game earlier in the week, ASU picked up the doubles point in dominant fashion. Geerts and Ruehl teamed up yet again to defeat Washington’s Kawika Lam and Enzo Sommer 6-1.

Next, Kirkman and Hannestad followed suit with a 6-2 victory over Jack Davis and Alexis Alvares.

Bolla and Rakotomalala’s 4-4 match with Jake Douglas and Mitch Stewart was called short after ASU clinched the point.

Already with a lead, ASU just needed to split singles play to claim another conference win.

The Huskies’ Davis tied the total score at 1 after defeating Bolla 6-4, 6-2. Washington took the lead with Stewart’s identical 6-4, 6-2 win over Hannestad.

However, Kirkman came through for the Sun Devils, evening the score at 2-2 with his 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Sebastian Hawken.

The Huskies pushed the Devils to the limit with Douglas’ 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Geerts.

With their backs against the wall, ASU stormed back with two points from Rakotomalala and Ruehl to win their second game of the weekend.

Rakotomalala downed Sommer in a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 slugfest to tie the total score 3-3, making the Court 4 matchup the deciding tilt.

Ruehl sealed the win for the second time that weekend with his 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 win over Amit Batta.

Singles play turned into a marathon for the Sun Devils, as four of the six matches needed three sets.

After a long, but memorable, weekend, ASU returns for a three-game home stand to end the season. They look forward to another busy weekend this week, as No. 2 UCLA and No. 16 USC come to Tempe.

Next: ASU Men’s Tennis: Sun Devils fall on the road to Utah 4-3

The Sun Devils pick up play again Friday against UCLA, hoping to avenge two close losses to top-five opponents.