(Photo: Patricia Vicente/WCSN)
The conference road trips will be ending as soon as they started as Arizona State men’s tennis team will travel to Oregon and Washington this weekend for its last Pac-12 road trip of 2018.
After losing to Utah 4-3, the Sun Devils’ ranking dropped from No. 34 to No.37. The Sun Devils head to the Pacific Northwest with an overall record of 11-7 (0-2 Pac-12).
A big take away from last weekend, and certainly an improvement from the beginning of the season, is that ASU won the doubles point to grab a quick lead in the match.
“I think the doubles moves we made halfway through were good moves,” head coach Matt Hill said, when asked about the Sun Devils recent success in doubles. “We’ve won every doubles point we’ve played in conference and we’ve played some good schools. We’re really happy.”
These changes are certainly paying off for the Sun Devils as freshman Andrea Bolla and sophomore Makey Rakotomalala broke through in the ITA Doubles rankings this week, coming in at the No. 86 spot. They are the first Arizona State ranked doubles team this season.
Matt Hill also emphasized the importance the doubles point is for them, especially going into this weekend, and about what the team is hoping to accomplish this weekend.
“We’ve been winning the doubles point and we don’t want to shy away from it,” Hill said.
Oregon and Washington recently faced off last week in Washington with the Huskies winning the match by a score of 4-3. Last week’s win extended Washington’s match win streak to four.
The Sun Devils will face No. 41 Oregon on Friday at 3 p.m. They will then travel to Washington for their second match of the weekend, which will take place on Sunday at noon. This will be their last conference road trip of the season before they close out their season in Tempe, Arizona.
