No. 4/23 Men’s Tennis Advances to Second Round of Pac-12 Tourney

CALIFORNIA– Fourth seed and No. 23 Arizona State men’s tennis (17-8, 4-2) took down fifth-seeded and No. 58-ranked California (10-10, 3-3) 4-1 in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday afternoon. The team advances to face the winner of today’s Stanford/Washington match tomorrow, April 26 at 1 p.m. MST at Libbey Park in Ojai, California. 

The pair of Jacob Bullard and Murphy Cassone improved to 10-1 on the season after taking down California’s 38th-ranked pair in Alex Chang and Mikey Wright. Their 7-5 win on court one clinched the doubles point for the Sun Devils and gave the team a 1-0 lead. 

Four Sun Devils won their first set, including Junior Murphy Cassone, who defeated his opponent, #96 Ryder Jackson in straight sets and put ASU ahead 2-0. Senior Jacob Bullard followed with his straight-set victory and it was a 3-0 match. 

Roi Ginat fell in straight sets on court five, which allowed Cal to get a point on the board. On court six, Constantinos Koshis battled in the tiebreak to clinch the match for the Sun Devils and fuel ASU to a 4-1 win. 

Singles Competition: 

1. #12 Murphy Cassone (ASU) def. #96 Ryder Jackson (CAL) 6-3, 6-4
2. #55 Bor Artnak (ASU) vs. #120 Carl Emil Overbeck (CAL) 6-4, 3-6, 4-3 unfinished
3. Max McKennon (ASU) vs. #118 Alex Chang (CAL) 3-6, 6-4, 4-4 unfinished
4. Jacob Bullard (ASU) def. Timofey Stepanov (CAL) 7-6(5), 6-2
5. Lucas Magnaudet (CAL) def. Roi Ginat (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Constantinos Koshis (ASU) def. Jonathan Irwanto (CAL) 6-4, 7-6(5)

Order of finish: 1,4,5,6

Doubles Competition: 

1. #79 Jacob Bullard/Murphy Cassone (ASU) def. #38 Alex Chang/Mikey Wright (CAL) 7-5
2. #71 Max McKennon/Bor Artnak (ASU) def. Lucas Magnaudet/Ryder Jackson (CAL) 6-3
3. Qian Sun/Carl Emil Overbeck (CAL) def. Nicola Cigna/Daniel Phillips (ASU) 6-1

Order of finish: 3,2,1

Up Next: 

The Sun Devils advance to the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament and will face the winner of today’s Stanford/Washington first-round match. The match will take place on Friday, April 26 at 1 p.m. MST at Libbey Park in Ojai, California.