After a full two weeks without a match, Arizona State men’s tennis (3-5) was swept 5-0 by the 13th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies (7-3) in their return to the court Sunday.
ASU continues to suffer from the combination of a brutal schedule and injuries early on this season, as they have only lost to ranked opponents thus far and are still without their presumed number one singles player, senior Nathan Ponwith, who has been out since late November with a shoulder injury. Ponwith is expected to return soon.
The Sun Devils began the match by losing a tightly contested doubles point.
Freshman Tom LeBlanc and junior William Kirkman opened play for ASU with a swift 6-1 loss at number two doubles, but a 6-3 win from freshmen George Stoupe and Christian Lerby at number three doubles evened up the score, leaving the point in the hands of ASU’s junior pair of Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla, the 12th ranked doubles team in the nation. Although the duo entered the match having won four straight, they were defeated 6-4 by the Aggies’ number one team of Juan Carlos Aguilar and Stefan Storch, thus clinching the point.
In singles, Stoupe, who entered the match with a 4-2 record, was the first to finish, as he lost 6-4, 6-1 to Stefan Storch.
Senior Makey Rakotomalala, who began the season as ASU’s number one singles player with Ponwith out, made his return to the court in this match after nearly a month off, but fell 4-6, 2-6 to Noah Schacter in the number four spot.
At numbers one and two singles for ASU, Bolla and Ruehl both suffered straight-set losses to nationally ranked opponents, as 34th ranked Hady Habib bested Bolla 6-1, 7-5, and 3rd ranked Valentin Vacherot handled Ruehl 6-1, 6-2 to clinch victory for the Aggies.
At number three singles, Lerby was unable to finish his match against 31st ranked Juan Carlos Aguilar, yet showed tremendous promise, splitting the first two sets 3-6, 6-2, and maintaining his strong 4-1 record at the number three spot.
Number five singles also could not finish, where LeBlanc trailed Guido Marson 6-7 (4), 2-3.
The Sun Devils will look to rebound when they return home Friday to face UNLV at 4 p.m.
