(Photo: Mason Kern/WCSN)
With the Pac-12 Championships just around the corner, the Sun Devils made one last push to secure some extra confidence as they improved their record to 14-9 by taking down the University of Arizona Wildcats in the Territorial Cup to close out their regular season.
The Wildcats came into today’s contest on a five-match losing streak, while the Sun Devils were on a two-match losing streak. With this duel match being the last one of the each team’s regular season, both schools were looking for wins to end the season on the right note.
With the doubles matches on court one and two going into tiebreakers, all eyes were on which team could clinch the doubles point.
Eventually, it was the Sun Devils who came out on top with a 7-6 win from ASU’s senior Michaël Geerts and freshman Pierre Louis Dodens over Arizona’s junior Jonas Maier and sophomore Alejandro Reguant.
A big factor that also came into play for the Sun Devils win in their last home match of the regular season had to do with the crowd.
“It was really tight at the beginning in doubles,” sophomore Makey Rakotomalala said following ASU’s victory. “The crowd really helped, they gave us energy and that made the difference.”
The Sun Devils headed into singles play with a point advantage over the Wildcats and all it took to seal the deal was three more match points from their top three singles.
Arizona State’s lone senior Michaël Geerts played his last match at Whiteman Tennis Center against Arizona and was able to win both his doubles and singles contests to close out his time in Tempe.
“It was fun,” Geerts said. “It was great to have all of the support from everyone today.”
With the 4-0 win over the Wildcats, ASU claimed the Territorial Cup in front of a big crowd in Tempe.
“It’s really exciting,” head coach Matt Hill said. “We know they’re a good team. We knew it was going to be a tough battle today. We’re glad that we got through it today.”
The Sun Devils will travel to Ojai, Calif. for the Pac-12 Championships that are set to begin on April 25.
Doubles
1. No. 45 Makey Rakotomalala/Andrea Bolla (ASU) vs. Igor Karpovets/Aaro Pollamen (UofA) 6-6 [susp.]
2. Michaël Geerts/Pierre Louis Dodens (ASU) def. Jonas Maier/Alejandro Reguant (UofA) 7-6
3. Benjamin Hannestad/Will Kirkman (ASU) def. Carlos Hassey/ Filip Malbasic (UofA) 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1 [suspended]
Singles
1. No. 20 Michaël Geerts (ASU) def. Igor Karpovets (UofA) 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 76 Benjamin Hannestad (ASU) def. Aaro Pollanen (UofA) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 ^
3. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Filip Malbasic (UofA) 7-6, 6-3
4. Andrea Bolla (ASU) vs. Alejandro Reguant (UofA) 6-7, 6-5 [susp.]
5. Will Kirkman (ASU) vs. Trent Brotha (UofA) 3-6, 7-6 [susp.]
6. Pierre Louis Dodens (ASU) vs. Carlos Hassey (UofA) 7-6, 3-3 [susp.]
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2 | 4, 5, & 6 [susp.]
^ Clinched the overall match
