Clutch moments
Arizona State men’s and women’s tennis each won its first contest of the Pac-12 Tournaments on Saturday.
Men’s
Nathan Ponwith went the distance, but didn’t disappoint his team. In the decisive match between fifth-seeded Arizona State and four-seeded UCLA, Ponwith took the final set against Bruins No. 1 Govind Nanda to earn the Sun Devils a 4-3 win.
The Sun Devils started the day off with the doubles point after wins from Makey Rakotomalala/Tim Ruehl and Christian Lerby/George Stoupe.
Ruehl swept in two sets on court three for Arizona State’s first singles victory. Lerby then battled it out on court six to win and set Ponwith up for the game-winning point.
Arizona State will take on top-seeded Stanford on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. The Sun Devils barely fell to Stanford earlier in April 4-3.
Women’s
Similar to Ponwith, Marianna Argyrokastriti played the hero role for Arizona State women’s tennis. The fourth-seeded Sun Devils and fifth-seeded USC went down to the final match, the one Argyrokastriti came out on top of.
After falling in the doubles matches, Arizona State dominated the singles matches. Argyrokastriti swept USC’s Summer Dvorak to clinch the final point on court five.
Lauryn John-Baptiste earned a point after her opponent retired after the first set. Meanwhile, Ilze Hattingh and Giulia Morlet each won in two sets to set the stage for the freshman Argyrokastriti.
Arizona State will face top-seeded UCLA at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. The Bruins squeaked by the Sun Devils in early April with a 4-3 win.