ASU Men’s Tennis: Sun Devils break from difficult Pac-12 start to host Liberty

(Photo: Alex Roddier/WCSN)

After a rough start to its 2019 Pac-12 campaign with back-to-back road losses to No. 7 Stanford and California, the Arizona State men’s tennis team (4-7, 0-2 Pac-12) looks to bounce back in a non-conference match against Liberty on Tuesday in Tempe, a match that was just recently added to the team’s schedule on March 7.

This rare weekday afternoon matchup marks the first home contest for the Sun Devils since Feb. 24 and represents the only one on ASU’s home court for the entire month of March.

The latter half of the schedule does not get any less road-heavy either. ASU closes out the season with seven of its last 11 matches on the road — serving as a critical step for the team to take advantage of playing at home and weather the storm ahead.

It was bumpy first weekend of conference play as the team got swept in the Bay Area, but there has been one consistent theme with this year’s roster that sticks out in broad daylight: starting matches off strong.

Although the Sun Devils haven’t necessarily closed out matches, all three of the team’s doubles pairings maintain national rankings with sophomores Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla at No. 39, juniors Nathan Ponwith and Dominik Kellovsky at No. 49 and the tandem of junior Makey Rakotomalala and graduate transfer Justin Roberts at No. 55 . No other Pac-12 team has three pairings in the top-55 of the rankings or higher and ASU is only one of four in the country with three pairings ranked.

In total, ASU’s pairings have produced an 8-3 record in doubles play this season, including 2-0 at home.

However, this week’s home matchup brings a formidable challenge with Liberty (5-8, 0-0) maintaining a 6-1 record in its last seven matches in gaining the doubles point. The Flames come to Tempe with one ranked pairing, as sophomore Nicaise Muamba and junior Chase Burton slate at No. 61.

Front-loading Liberty’s success, Muamba — who has been nominated as the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week three times this year — spearheads the Flames’ efforts. Muamba is the first player in Liberty program history to be ranked in both singles (No. 109) and doubles (No. 61 with Burton).

While the Flames also face a road-heavy schedule, they have had slightly less success (0-7) than ASU (1-6) in such matches. As Liberty journeys through the Valley, it will have three chances improve its record against Grand Canyon, ASU and No. 21 Arizona.

Prior to its 5:00 p.m. doubleheader evening matchup with ASU, Liberty takes on the GCU at 11:00 a.m. With most of their contests on the docket away from the friendly confines of the Whiteman Tennis Center, it’s hard not to notice the Sun Devils’ success at home.

ASU is undefeated when playing in Tempe this season and have not lost a home match since April 15, 2018 against then-No. 16 USC, losing 4-0.

Looking to get back on track before resuming Pac-12 play, the Sun Devils seek to burn out the Flames on Tuesday. ASU will have three more home matches prior to the conclusion of this season.