After a successful regular season, ASU men’s tennis’ season came to a close Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Every glass slipper has to break eventually.
In its first season since 2008, ASU qualified for the NCAA Tournament and a spot in the College Station Regional. The Sun Devils dropped their first match of the tournament to No. 18 Baylor, eliminating ASU from the tournament.
Arizona State was outperformed in every way, as the Sun Devils did not record a point in the match.
In doubles, ASU dug itself into a hole early when Michael Geerts/Tim Ruehl fell to Johannes Schretter/Akos Kotorman, 6-2. The other doubles matches were close, but Baylor clinched the point when Will Little/Constantin Frantzen defeated Will Kirkman/Pierre Dodens, 7-5.
Despite not winning the point, ASU head coach Matt Hill said he was impressed with how Courts 2 and 3 fought back.
“I thought at 2 and 3 they rebounded really well,” Hill said. “They started working together as a team really, really well, and I think we gave ourselves a chance against a really tough Baylor doubles team.”
Baylor used singles play to build on their success in doubles as the Bears won the first set in each of the six singles matches.
The first singles point was earned when Benjamin Hannestad retired in the second set against Beorn Petersen. The final score of that match was 6-2, 3-0.
Additionally, Constantin Frantzen and Sven Lah defeated Will Kirkman and Tim Ruehl, respectively, clinching the Baylor victory.
Although he said he thinks dropping the doubles point affected the outcome of the match, Hill said he thought his team played well.
“I think it affected the overall outcome,” Hill said. “They’re really tough at every spot in singles, so there were a couple spots we knew were going to be tough. I thought the guys performed well, competed hard and put themselves in a position to win.”
The final score of the match was 4-0, and the only set won by the Sun Devils was by Makey Rakotomalala on Court 3.
While the Sun Devils hoped for a deeper NCAA Tournament run, the team has a lot to look forward to next season. Michael Geerts is the only player on the team who will graduate and several incoming freshman will join the team.
Hill said he is really excited about next year in spite of the early exit.
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“So many things,” Hill said. “I’m excited about the recruits we have that are coming in; I’m excited about all these guys returning. The hunger and excitement on a daily basis heading into the season is going to be so wildly different next year, which is going to make a huge difference for us.”
All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.