(Photo: Emmie Keenan/WCSN)
On Friday, the Sun Devils faced off against the Buckeyes at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center. No. 18 doubles team Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla of the Sun Devils found themselves defeating the No. 1 doubles pair in the nation, OSU’s Robert Cash and John McNally.
Despite the 6-4 win for Ruehl and Bolla, the Sun Devils still dropped the match to the Buckeyes, falling 7-0 to the No. 2 tennis team in the country.
The action began on court two as OSU took the advantage early. OSU won the first match and took the momentum to carry through. Ruehl and Bolla would not make it that easy though when served an upset to Robert Cash and John McNally in a 6-4 victory. This victory gives Ruehl and Bolla their second win against a ranked opponent, with their first win (7-6) over No. 19 Emile Hudd and Luke Hammond of Oklahoma State.
Christian Lerby and George Stoupe, ASU’s freshman duo had one of their best matches yet as they were able to battle from behind to result in a 6-6 tie. In the tiebreaker game the duo was stopped and the win fell to OSU 7-3. The win would give OSU a 1-0 advantage with singles play yet to come.
In six of the four singles matches played, four of OSU’s athletes were ranked, making competition tough for the Sun Devils. On courts one and three the Sun Devils dropped the matches which gave OSU a 3-0 lead. The Buckeyes then sent out two players who are ranked in the top-25 in the ITA Division I poll.
The match ended with the Buckeyes picking up wins on courts four, six, two and five securing their 7-0 victory.
Arizona State’s loss to Ohio State drops them to 2-4 on the season, with all four losses coming to ranked opponents. On Sunday, the Devils are back in action as they travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State at 10 a.m.
