TEMPE, Ariz. – On Saturday, against the Diablo College Tennis Invite host and No. 23 ranked Arizona State, the No. 15 ranked Spartans rode the momentum of a hard-fought doubles point clinch to a 4-2 win.
Following the win over their first top-25 opponent, the Spartans will face their first top-10 opponent, No. 9 Arizona, in the tournament final tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET.
With MSU and ASU splitting the doubles matches at court one and two, the duo of senior Graydon Lair and junior Max Sheldon pulled through with a late break and a 7-5 win to clinch the doubles point for Sparty, the duo’s sixth win in as many matches together.
In singles play, the No. 19 ranked Ronald Hohmann III kept the momentum going with a win on court two, 6-1, 7-5 in straight sets, his fifth ranked win of the season. Arizona State responded with a win on court six, but so did graduate student Sebastien Collard who claimed a 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 win and 3-1 lead for MSU.
The Sun Devils answered again with a win in the No. 1 singles battle between the two sides’ top-10 nationally ranked players. It was freshman Aristotelis Thanos who would clinch the match for MSU however, coming out on top, 6-4, 7-6 [7-5] at No. 3 singles.
No. 9 Arizona enters the title match 11-2, having won it’s last five, including 4-0 and 4-1 wins over GCU and No. 36 Michigan on Friday and Saturday en route to the final. Three Wildcats are ranked individually at No. 6, No. 39, and No. 76. U of A also has three ranked doubles pairings at No. 11, No. 38 and No. 49.
Results
#15 Michigan State 4 (14-1), #23 Arizona State 2 (9-5)
Doubles
1. Ozan Baris/Aristotelis Thanos…
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