WAS STILL Dancing! Men’s Tennis upsets #24 Illinois

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Sun Devil Men’s Tennis is still alive in the NCAA Tournament! Well. 42 ASU defeated No. 24 Illinois 4-3 Friday morning in Cambridge, Mass. thanks to a three-set thriller by freshmen Roi Ginat at number 5, which gave the head coach Matt Hill his third NCAA tournament win since the program was reintroduced in 2016. The Sun Devils will play the Harvard/Siena winner Saturday morning at 11:00 AZ. Cracked rackets on YouTube. Live statistics can be found here.

ASU vs. Illinois Final Box

Sun Devil NCAA tournament wins under Matt Hill

2023 4-3 Illinois at Boston
2021 4-3 Wichita State at Fort Worth
2019 4-0 vs. Miami in Fort Worth
Before that, the last NCAA win was in 2004

How did it happen

• ASU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after reaching double point with a 6-0 sweep starting at No. 2. Murphy Cassone/Max McKennon and 7-5 win from number 1 Jacob Bullard/Constantinos Koshis.
• Singles was a battle from start to finish. McKennon was coming off a tough 6-0, 6-1 loss to Illinois’ Hunter Heck at No. 2, but ASU celebrated wins at Nos. 1 and 4 over Cassone (7-6, 6-4) and Bullard (7-). 6, 7-5). Additional wins by Illinois at No. 3 and No. 6 tied the match at 3-3.
• All eyes were on Ginat and William Mroz at number 5. Ginat won the first set 6-4, but dropped the second 2-6. In the third, the pair were neck and neck, with the final frame tied at 3-3 at one point, but Ginat kept the pressure on and eventually won 6-4 thanks to a long ball from Mroz.
• Ginati’s win was her first singles victory in four matches and snapped a three-match losing streak.