#5 Texas Tops ASU 6-1 Sunday Afternoon

TEMPE - Sun Devil Men's Tennis lost 6-1 to No. 5 Texas Sunday afternoon at Whiteman Tennis Center. ASU clenched the doubles point thanks to a heroic finish on court three, but couldn't keep up in singles play. It's the second loss of the week for the Sun Devils who lost to No. 19 Texas A&M on Wednesday.
 
"We have a lot of work to do in singles," head coach Matt Hill said. "We're learning a lot about these guys. We've got five guys in our lineup who are new to us and we're continuing to learn about what their patterns are and what their tendencies are and how to coach them and communicate to them. This is different than in the fall - there's a different feeling of pressure and we have a long way to go."
 
How it happened:
No. 42 Max McKennon and Fabien Salle won 6-2 after winning four unanswered games over No. 23 Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab. Jacob Bullard and Murphy Cassone were unable to secure a victory, losing their set 6-3 to Cleeve Harper and Richard Ciamarra. The deciding doubles match came on court three where Nicola Cigna and George Stoupe beat Chih Chi Huang and Micah Braswell 7-5 (5) in a neck-and-neck tie breaker.
 
UT won all six singles to come back and win the overall match 6-1. The Sun Devils fought hard and celebrated Murphy Cassone, Max McKennon and Spencer Brachman all forcing a third set in their matches.
 
Up Next
The Sun Devils next play on January 29 against the sixth ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the first match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. ASU will then player either Northwestern or UNC. The Sun Devils return to Tempe Feb. 6 to host San Diego. 
 
Jan 23, 2022 at Tempe, AZ
(Whiteman Tennis Center)
Texas 6, Arizona State 1
 
Singles competition
1. Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Murphy Cassone (ASU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (6-7), 1-0 (11-9)
2. Micah Braswell (UT) def. Fabien Salle (ASU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Richard Ciamarra (UT) def. Max McKennon (ASU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Jacob Bullard (ASU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Nicola Cigna (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Spencer Brachman (ASU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
1. #42 Max McKennon/Fabien Salle (ASU) def. #23 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2
2. Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Murphy Cassone/Jacob Bullard (ASU) 6-3
3. George Stoupe/Nicola Cigna (ASU) def. Chih Chi Huang/Micah Braswell (UT) 7-6 (7-5)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,4,5,6,3,1)