ASU Men’s Tennis: No. 35 Sun Devils head to Texas for bout with top-10 foes

Photo: Alex Roddier/WCSN

No. 35 Arizona State enters this weekend of play ranked by the Oracle/ITA for the first time since January. Sitting at 6-8, the Sun Devils will look to build off of a weekend that saw them beat two ranked opponents in then-No. 13 Michigan (4-2) and then-No. 31 California (4-3).

Throughout the course of the year, ASU has feasted on its opponents in doubles, winning the point in all but three matches this season. ASU features two tandems ranked in the top-60 (out of 80 ranked spots), with juniors Nathan Ponwith and Dominik Kellovsky coming in at No. 18, followed by the No. 56 pairing of sophomores Andrea Bolla and Tim Ruehl.

As for singles, Ponwith has been on a tear of late winning four of his last six, catapulting himself from No. 74 to No. 55 in the rankings in the most recent update.

“He’s always worked hard, he’s just playing better tennis now,” ASU coach Matt Hill said. “He’s trusting in his game more … we’re seeing some really good things and we don’t expect this weekend to be any different.”

After a successful showing in the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge in Indian Wells, California, ASU now trips to Texas to take on a couple of top-10 opponents this weekend.

ASU begins with a doubleheader in Waco, Texas, where it will first square off with Incarnate Word (8-4) at 8:00 a.m. followed by a match against No. 6 Baylor at 4:00 p.m.

The latter of the two will be an especially difficult matchup as the Bears possess three players in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings. They also already have previous victories over common Pac-12 opponents, No. 43 California (ASU: L/W) and No. 15 USC (ASU: L).

After the doubleheader on Friday, ASU will travel to Fort Worth to take on a familiar opponent in No. 10 TCU on Sunday. ASU fell to the Horn Frogs in its first exhibition match of the season at the inaugural Tempe Collegiate Classic on Jan. 10.

Much like Baylor, the Horned Frogs possess an extremely talented roster with five wins against ranked opponents, including victories over No. 3 Mississippi State and No. 7 UCLA.

“They compete really well, they know their tennis well,” Hill said. “They’ve beaten some really good teams, so they have a lot of trust in themselves.

“They have great depth and talent all the way through the lineup. They have been winning some really quality matches … It’s going to be a really tough match.”

All season ASU has dealt with a tough draw. The combination of the quality of its opponents and the lack of home matches has turned this group into a hardened, battle-tested team. Only five home matches were scheduled at the onset of the season.

This weekend will be more of the same.

But no one is going to feel bad for the Sun Devils, which is why it’s crucial for them to have a successful weekend in Texas with Pac-12 play starting to heat up after this road trip and with an NCAA tournament berth on the line.

*This story was published after ASU defeated Incarnate Word on Friday morning 4-0.*