The Arizona State Men’s Basketball team wasn’t the only ASU team celebrating in style yesterday, as Sun Devil Men’s tennis (7-2) advanced to the finals at the Diablos College Tennis Challenge after sweeping UNLV at the Kiwanis Tennis Center, in Tempe.
Unlike last night’s match against Nevada, the Devils stormed out of the gates with early break points in the doubles and singles matches and never allowed UNLV to come back in those matches.
Head Coach Matt Hill wanted his players to start fast and keep their foot on the gas. Junior Spencer Brachman and fellow Junior Max McKennon followed this up with dominating single-match victories, as they each won in straight sets.
“We put it as a point of emphasis today to come out of the gate better, to hold our leads better, to take care of the first two points better,” said Hill. “There tends to be a mental dip, and most players can fall into that trap, they get their break of serve and naturally calm down a little bit. I thought Max and Spencer did an amazing job from what I could tell as it related to that today instead of yesterday.”
Arizona State would take a rapid lead in the semifinal after winning two of the three doubles matches. Both ASU doubles teams of Murphy Cassone with Jacob Bullard, and McKennon with Roi Ginat, relied heavily on their serve and volley game to win the doubles portion of the semifinal.
At the beginning of the singles matches, the wind picked up considerably through the evening, which made the ball float longer in the air and became a burden for some players on the courts.
“It was tough, especially in the beginning with the wind because it was pretty windy out there,” said freshman Constantinos Koshis. “But once the wind settled later in the night, it was pretty good for everyone. When it comes to these conditions, it levels up a little bit and it’s basically who competes better.”
Brachman and McKennon would get the ball rolling for the Devils early as they both won their singles matches. With the team score 3-0 against UNLV, the Devils needed one more win to complete the sweep of the Rebels and advance to the finals on Sunday afternoon.
Koshis had the semifinals hanging in the balance for the Sun Devils and was looking to rebound after losing a tough match against Youssef Kadiri Hassani of Nevada.
“Yesterday in the night session I wasn’t feeling great and tired,” Koshis said on his Nevada performance. “The atmosphere was hard obviously and it was just one of those days, that you feel nothing and the other guy was playing out of his mind, but I was not playing well.”
In his singles match, Koshis put his struggles behind him and got the victory for the team. In the process, he sent UNLV packing and the Sun Devils into the finals.
Koshis patiently waited for the play to develop, and when it did, he seized his opportunity and smashed multiple winners down the line in his match.
“I did a really good job in the third with my serve and forehand, I dominated with that and was solid all over the court,” said Koshis.
The Sun Devils are well aware of the challenge that awaits the team this afternoon, when they face off against Loyola Marymount University in the finals.
“We scouted them a little bit today at 1:00 in the other semi and they were a very good team,” said Hill. “It’s gonna be a tough test again. We know that the teams we invite to these tournaments are good, that’s why we invite them to come.”
Arizona State has their sights set on one last opponent before raising a trophy. It all goes down at 2:00PM at the Kiwanis Tennis Center today.
