Utes Knock Off ASU, 4-3

Saturday, March 31

Salt Lake City, UT

1:00 PM

University of Utah

Arizona State

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

3/31/2018 5:06 PM | Men's Tennis

Utah starts 2-0 in Pac-12 play

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's tennis team earned another hard-fought victory this afternoon, 4-3 over Arizona State. The Utes improved to 19-2 on the season and 2-0 in Pac-12

Senior Santiago Sierra was the deciding factor in the match, winning in three sets to give the Utes a fifth-straight win.

"This win feels unbelievable," said head coach Roeland Brateanu. "This is a legitimate top 15 team, and we played them toe-to-toe in every match. We are very fortunate to come up with a win, but the guys worked hard for it and they believed. I am really proud of the work and I am really proud of the win today."

The Sun Devils were able to get an early lead on the Utes by taking the doubles point. Joe Woolley and Egbert Weverink were the only ones to earn a victory for the Utes, beating out Makey Rakotomalala and Andrea Bolla with a score of 6-4 at the No. 2 position.

In singles play, the Utes started their comeback. Randy Cory started things off with a quick win on the No. 5 court, topping ASU's Tim Ruehl 6-2, 6-4. David Micevski then put in a win of his own at the No. 2 spot, defeating Benjamin Hannestad with a final score of 7-5, 6-3. Dan Little then followed with a win at the No. 1 spot to tie the match at three games apiece, topping Michael Geerts with a score of 7-5, 7-5.

With one final match remaining, the win was in Sierra's hands. After dropping the first set 6-3, he came back to even things up with a 7-6 victory in the second set. With the entire match on the line, he was able to take the third set, 6-2, to complete the Utah comeback.

The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action next week for two Pac-12 conference matches on the road. They will first travel to Berkeley, California, to take on 30^th ranked Cal, with the match against the Bears set for April 6^th at 6 p.m. MST. Then on April 7^th, they will travel to Stanford, California, to take on the 3^rd ranked Stanford Cardinal, with the match set to start at 2 p.m. MST.

No. 39 UTAH 4, No. 34 ASU 3

Doubles (1,2,3)
Tim Ruehl/Michael Geerts (ASU) def. Randy Cory/Russell Benkaim (UTAH), 6-4
Joe Woolley/Egbert Weverink (UTAH) def. Makey Rakotomalala/Andrea Bolla (ASU), 6-4
Benjamin Hannestad/William Kirkman (ASU) def. Dan Little/Azat Hankuliyev (UTAH), 7-6

Singles (5,3,2,6,1,4)
Dan Little (UTAH) def. Michael Geerts (ASU), 7-5, 7-5
David Micevski (UTAH) def. Benjamin Hannestad (ASU), 7-5, 6-3
Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Egbert Weverink (UTAH), 6-3, 7-6
Santiago Sierra (UTAH) def. Andrea Bolla (ASU), 3-6, 7-6, 6-2
Randy Cory (UTAH) def. Tim Ruehl (ASU), 6-2, 6-4
William Kirkman (ASU) def. Joe Woolley (UTAH), 7-5, 7-6