Photo Courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics
A match victory wasn’t the only thing the Sun Devils were celebrating on a warm Friday afternoon at Whiteman Tennis Center. For the Sun Devils, it was senior night, and for three players, it was their final time playing at home. It was only fitting to send them off with a win.
Seniors Spencer Bracham, Jacob Bullard and Max Mckennon were celebrated at the intermission for playing their last match at home. During this time, each player received a plaque with their name on it and pictures of their time at ASU. Head coach Matt Hill made sure the crowd knew how much those three meant to the program, with each of them getting a speech from him congratulating them.
Bracham and McKennon were here for all four years—something unheard of in college sports today, and after a two-match skid, ASU (14-8, 2-2 Pac-12) dominated the Utah Utes (3-16, 0-5 Pac-12) by beating them 4-0 in what would be a perfect night for the Sun Devils.
“It’s one of those things where, as a head coach, you’ve been so grateful to have guys like this for so long,” Hill said. “Especially in the climate that we’re in, and with how college sports are right now, it is important for them to be loyal and invest in what you want to invest in long term. So grateful, but then somewhat sad and a way that you’re, you know, they’re going to be leaving and, of course, excited for the next steps with a couple of them going on the tour and some of them going into their professional world.
The three seniors have meant a lot to the overall culture in the locker room, and Hill is thankful for how they’ve helped stabilize the locker room and put this program back on track after being reinstated in 2016..
“The internal leadership that goes into having a culture of winning that continues year after year after year, we didn’t have that,” Hill said. “One year we’d be really strong and the next year we had a locker room that was a mess. These guys that are graduating stabilized the culture in the locker room for this program, to build something really special moving forward.”
With all the emotions throughout the night, a match still had to be played, and for the Sun Devils, it was a perfect opportunity to have a great send-off for the seniors with a gritty win. Hill has preached all year that he wants his team to hang around and give themselves a chance regardless of the score, preaching that it is a characteristic “all the best teams have.”
“Managing the matches well,” Hill said. “That was the main theme we discussed in the locker room before we came out for warm-up today. Just being professional, really taking care of the matches in a real disciplined professional way.”
In a storybook type of ending for the match, Bullard in his final match at home would get the clinching point for the Sun Devils on court four (6-2, 6-4), and being able to do so in front of friends and family one more time, meant the world.
“It’s always good to be able to win in front of them and to have their support but also on a special night for us seniors as well,” Bullard said. “I definitely was hoping to get off the court with a win so being able to clinch it is even better. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for me playing-wise.”
Right out of the gates, the Sun Devils showed off their grit and didn’t let the Utes find their footing at all. With the entire team motivated to get a win for their seniors, Utah struggled right from the get-go in doubles.
On court 1, the duo of Bullard and junior Murphy Cassone got off to a hot start with an early break that gave them a 2-0 lead. With the cushion, they were able to push for another break to give them a solid lead to work off of. Regardless, the duo didn’t need that safety blanket as they defeated senior Geronimo Busleiman and senior Bruno Krenn 6-2. The win clinched ASU the doubles point.
“Our message this year is to build an identity of being a gritty team, and it doesn’t matter who we play,” Cassone said. “Just coming out there and doing our job and doing what we need to win and playing the ball, more so than playing the team or player across the net.”
Now, with the regular season almost wrapped up and the Pac-12 championship right around the corner. It’s the perfect time to start polishing things for the playoffs.
“A little bit of the returns in doubles,” Hill said. “We’re gonna be focusing on that for the next couple of weeks. I just feel like fundamentally we can be a little better in that space. Coming out in singles is strong. I thought today was a great example of that. The match management early in the matches, I think we could do a better job for the most part across the board.”
