(Photo: Marie Obsuna/Sun Devil Athletics)
In its first match of NCAA Tournament play since the 2008 season, the reinstated Arizona State men’s tennis team hit the road to Texas A&M–the neutral site of the team’s first round matchup.
No. 36 ASU (14-11 overall, 3-4 Pac-12) took on No. 18 Baylor (21-9 overall, 1-4 Big-12) in a highly-anticipated first-round match. The last time these two teams faced off was in 1997–where the Sun Devils took the road victory 4-3 at Baylor. However, this ASU team has a new look, and the Sun Devils lack of postseason experience showed as the Bears handily took the match 4-0 Friday morning.
Both the Bears and Sun Devils boasted two doubles pairings in the Oracle/ITA national rankings as of May 3. Redshirt junior Will Little and fellow junior Johannes Schretter were slotted at No. 15 while freshman Akos Kotorman and sophomore Constantin Frantzmen improved to No. 81 for Baylor. Meanwhile, sophomore Makey Rakotomalala and freshman Andrea Bolla ranked No. 59 while senior captain Michaël Geerts and freshman Tim Ruehl finished at No. 68 for ASU.
Doubles play commenced with the two ranked doubles pairings for ASU sticking together. Baylor switched up their tandems putting Kotorman and Schretter on court one, freshmen Roy Smith and Sven Lah on two, and Frantzen and Little on three. ASU head coach Matt Hill also made an adjustment to his last unranked doubles pairing, putting freshmen Pierre Louis Dodens and William Kirkman together in the third doubles spot.
It was a sluggish start for the Sun Devils as the Bears pulled ahead to a 3-1 lead on every court. Kotorman and Schretter clinched the first victory for Baylor 6-2 over No. 68 Ruehl and Geerts. ASU would crawl back tying the games on courts two and three at 4-4, and then 5-5. However, Frantzen and Little proved too much for Dodens and Kirkman on three, achieving a break point to win the set 7-5, and clinch the doubles point for Baylor.
Singles was not that much better for ASU as they lost the first set in all six matches. Baylor freshman Matias Soto clinched the first victory for the Bears with a 6-2, 3-0 (retired) victory over ASU No. 80 freshman captain Benjamin Hannestad. Frantzen next blew past Kirkman 6-3, 6-0 putting the Bears up 3-0.
Little closed out the match defeating Ruehl at the four spot 6-2, 6-3 to give Baylor the 4-0 victory.
Baylor’s third ranked singles player No. 91 Bjoern Petersen was a DNP in this match.
The loss ends ASU’s postseason run in the NCAA Tournament. Geerts will now represent the Sun Devils in the singles championships at Wake Forest University on May 23.
Doubles
- Akos Kotorman/Johannes Schretter (Baylor) def. No. 68 Michaël Geerts/Tim Ruehl (ASU) – 6-2
- No. 59 Makey Rakotomalala/Andrea Bolla (ASU) vs. Roy Smith/Sven Lah (Baylor) – 5-6 (susp.)
- Will Little/Constantin Frantzen (Baylor) def. Pierre Louis Dodens/William Kirkman (ASU) – 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 3*
*clinched the doubles point
Singles
- No. 20 Michaël Geerts (ASU) vs. No. 63 Johannes Schretter (Baylor) – 5-7, 1-2 (susp.)
- Matias Soto (Baylor) def. No. 80 Benjamin Hannestad (ASU) – 6-2, 3-0 (ret.)
- No. 122 Sven Lah (Baylor) vs. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) – 6-1, 1-6, 2-1 (susp.)
- Will Little (Baylor) def. Tim Ruehl (ASU) – 6-2, 6-3
- Roy Smith (Baylor) vs. Andrea Bolla (ASU) – 6-3, 2-4 (susp.)
- Constantin Frantzen (Baylor) def. William Kirkman (ASU) – 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish: 2, 6, 4^
^clinched the overall match
