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#22 Sun Devils Unbeaten in 5 with Win Over San Diego

by thesundevils.com
Feb 19, 2021

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - No. 22 Arizona State (6-1) had a successful business trip out to San Diego, Calif. Friday with a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Toreros (2-1). The Sun Devils have now won five straight and haven't given up more than two points in five outings. ASU won the match thanks to singles victories from Andrea Bolla, Makey Rakotomalala, Christian Lerby and Tim Ruehl after dropping the doubles point.
 
Thanks to a 6-1 win in doubles alongside Nathan Ponwith and a three-set decision in singles, sophomore George Stoupe remains perfect in 2021 with identical 6-0 records. Ponwith moves to 6-1 in doubles, and is now 5-1 in singles with his close loss at No. 1
 

Doubles
Nathan Ponwith/George Stoupe were the first off the courts at No. 2, winning 6-1. ASU was in a tough position to claim the doubles point though as No. 14 pairing Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla trailed 4-1 on court one and Makey Rakotomalala/ Tom LeBlanc were down 5-2 on court three.
 
The Toreros kept the pressure on and clinched the doubles point thanks to at 6-1 victory at No. 1 and a 6-2 win at No. 3.
 
Singles
Lerby replaced LeBlanc at singles six and took a 2-1 lead, while Ruehl and Bolla each led 2-0 on their respective courts. Ponwith started in a heated battle at No. 1 with the Scottsdale native tied at 2-2 after four games. LeBlanc went on to take his opening set 6-1, while Ponwith and USD's August Holmgren each split a set force a third.
 
Andrea Bolla was the first off the courts. He cruised to an early 6-2 opening-set victory before rallying past a 3-3 tie in set two to win in straight sets (6-2, 6-3). Makey Rakotomalala followed Bolla. After opening down 3-1, he tied things at 4-4 before winning 6-4 in his opening set. He mirrored his performance in the second to put ASU ahead 2-0. Christian Lerby then easily handled business on court six with a 6-1, 6-2 sweep to put the Sun Devils up 3-1 on the Toreros.
 
Tim Ruehl clinched the day for ASU with a 7-5, 6-4 victory on court two, giving the Sun Devils their fifth-consecutive victory.
 
Up Next
With Sunday's matchup against No. 5 TCU canceled, the Maroon and Gold return to the courts Friday to host Oregon as they open their Pac-12 slate. No public attendance is permitted, but the match will be live streamed and live stats will also be available.
 
 
Feb 19, 2021 at San Diego
(Hogan Center)
Arizona State 5, San Diego 2
 
Singles competition
1. #60 August Holmgren (USD) def. Nathan Ponwith (ASU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
2. Tim Ruehl (ASU) def. Nico Borter (USD) 7-5, 6-4
3. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. David Norfeldt (USD) 6-4, 6-4
4. Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. Ilias Zimmerman (USD) 6-2, 6-3
5. George Stoupe (ASU) def. Sacchitt Sharrma (USD) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
6. Christian Lerby (ASU) def. Marvin Schraber (USD) 6-1, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
1. August Holmgren/David Norfeldt (USD) def. Andrea Bolla/Tim Ruehl (ASU) 6-1
2. Nathan Ponwith/George Stoupe (ASU) def. Marvin Schraber/Ilias Zimmerman (USD) 6-1
3. Nico Borter/Sacchitt Sharrma (USD) def. Makey Rakotomalala/Tom LeBlanc (ASU) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,3,6,2,1,5)

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