(Photo: Alex Roddier/WCSN)
After gaining some much-needed momentum in a 4-3 win in its last match over then-No. 41 San Diego, Arizona State hit the road for its first weekend of Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils garnered over a week of training since their last match, and with a tough test against No. 7 Stanford and California looming, the team will hope to get better results than last year.
ASU enters conference play with all three of its doubles pairings ranked by the Oracle/ITA. The sophomore tandem of Andrea Bolla and Time Ruehl lead the squad with the highest slot at No. 39, followed by the junior pairing of Nathan Ponwith and Dominik Kellovsky at No. 49, rounded out by junior Makey Rakotomalala and graduate transfer Justin Roberts at No. 55.
ASU is the only Pac-12 program with three doubles teams ranked in the top-55 or higher.
“All three of our pairs are very, very good doubles teams,” ASU coach Matt Hill said in a story written by Sun Devil Athletics. “We’re very even all the way through, and that’s why they all have national rankings and [are] able to beat quality opponents.”
ASU lost a tough match 4-3 to the then-No. 3 Cardinal a season ago in a tight contest. In the Sun Devils’ next match against the Golden Bears, a rain out forced the match to be rescheduled. In that later match, ASU again lost in close fashion, 4-3.
This year, Hill wants to reverse those results.
“We feel like that Stanford match kind of got stolen from us last season,” Hill said. “Not in a bad way – Stanford didn’t do anything wrong – but because we felt like we had a lot of the control in our match and we let it slip a little. You’re always eager and hungry to get back on that same team to try to beat them the next time, so the guys are excited about Stanford.
“It was the same thing with Cal where we had them on the ropes when the rain came last year. Then they nipped us in the finals of the Indian Wells Tournament last year which was frustrating for us. We’re extremely hungry to go into this weekend and continue to make our presence known within the conference.”
In singles, Ponwith climbed back into the rankings for the Sun Devils at No. 74.
“Nathan is putting a lot of work into his game,” Hill said, “and it’s showing. The areas that he needed to invest in, he’s investing in. He’s listening and getting better in those categories, and that equals more results. He’s a special kid with a lot of tools and a lot of skill sets … We’re excited for not only this weekend for him, but the rest of the season. We think he’s going to do some really big things.”
ASU opens Pac-12 play with this redemption weekend looking to propel itself over the .500 threshold. After finishing conference matches with an underwhelming 3-4 record last year, Hill and his squad will seek to get off on the right foot this time around.
“We feel like every spot is starting to click well,” Hill said, “which is exciting and key for us. We didn’t have a lot of that in the beginning of the year … We’re starting to see good tennis all through the courts which is a good sign. That’s what we want to have happening and we want to see that continue to progress.”
