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Sun Devils Kickoff 2022 with 7-0 Shutout of GCU

by thesundevils.com
Jan 14, 2022

TEMPE – In the opening match of the season, Sun Devil Men's Tennis earned a 7-0 victory over cross town rivals Grand Canyon Friday night at Whiteman Tennis Center. ASU dropped just one set on the day and is undefeated to start the year for the third-consecutive season.

"I thought there were some really good things out there and then there were a lot of things we have to work on," head coach Matt Hill said. "We are no different than any other team, but for our first match I thought the score lines were pretty clean but there is a lot of room to improve."
 
"I thought the team played very well today," co-captain Max McKennon said. "Our coach mentioned early that it was our cleanest match we've ever had as a program in terms of score lines. All the boys showed up today. It was a little different this year with new guys never having played a college match before, but I thought the whole team stepped up today. We still have a lot to improve on, but it was a great start to the season for sure."

 
How it happened
The Sun Devils clinched the doubles point with wins from McKennon/Salle (6-1), then Cassone/Bullard (6-2). Cigna/Stoupe finished up on court three with a 6-4 win.
 
In singles competition, ASU took the first set on all courts 6-1. GCU came back in the second set, collecting up to 4 points on court 3, and taking the second set on court 4, but ultimately, the Sun Devils came out victorious in their first match of the season.
 
"I thought Nicola Cigna at No. 5 did a really nice job managing the match mentally and tactically, it looked very clean," Hill said. "He understood what he needed to do and really stuck to it. I liked (Martim Marujo) on No. 4 singles for GCU, the new player from Portugal. He has a lot of really good tools, so it will be fun to see him grow into a player under Greg (Prudhomme) no doubt."
 
Next Up
The Sun Devils host Texas A&M in Tempe on Jan. 19 at 1 p.m. MST.
 
"We have little things here and there to work on, but as a whole if we play clean and bring it like we did today I think we have a great chance to do well against Texas A&M and throughout the season. I think we need to be ready and trust the work we've put in all year long and it will pay off," McKennon said.
 
Arizona State 7, Grand Canyon 0
Singles competition
1. Murphy Cassone (ASU) def. Argote, Mariano (GCU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Max McKennon (ASU) def. Novak, Jiri (GCU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Fabien Salle (ASU) def. Grant, Freddie (GCU) 6-1, 6-4
4. Jacob Bullard (ASU) def. Marujo, Martim (GCU) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
5. Nicola Cigna (ASU) def. Van Zeggelaar, Loic (GCU) 6-1, 6-1
6. George Stoupe (ASU) def. De Samucewicz, Stan (GCU) 6-1, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
1. Max McKennon/Fabien Salle (ASU) def. Argote, Mariano/Novak, Jiri (GCU) 6-1
2. Murphy Cassone/Jacob Bullard (ASU) def. Grant, Freddie/Van Zeggelaar, Loic (GCU) 6-2
3. Nicola Cigna/George Stoupe (ASU) def. Marujo, Martim/De Samucewicz, Stan (GCU) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,2,6,1,3,4)

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