The Golden Eagles knocked off Dartmouth on Friday but fell to ASU on Saturday. Both matches were held at the Helfaer Tennis and Recreation Center.,”Despite this weekend's loss against No. 37 Arizona State, the Marquette men's tennis team thinks it could be ranked as a top-50 team.
The Golden Eagles knocked off Dartmouth on Friday but fell to ASU on Saturday. Both matches were held at the Helfaer Tennis and Recreation Center.
The Golden Eagles rallied against the Big Green to win 4-3. Sophomores Niko Boulieris, Dusan Medan, junior Stephen Shao and senior Brett Binkley all captured singles victories.
Saturday's match against the Sun Devils gave the Golden Eagles their most difficult opponent of the year thus far. Marquette has never defeated ASU in men's tennis, and the Sun Devils boast a roster with four undefeated players in singles matches.
After Dusan Medan, who holds an 8-2 record in singles matches this season, defeated the then-undefeated Andres Arango and shaved ASU's lead to 3-2, junior Trent Hagan was defeated by Matt Brooklyn 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Because of injury default, sophomore Mark Rutherford prevailed over ASU's T.J. Bellama, but Marquette's third point wasn't enough. The Sun Devils defeated the Golden Eagles 4-3.
"You need to give credit to ASU," said Marquette head coach Steve Rodecap. "We put ourselves in a good position to win, but we just came up a little short. This was a very emotional match for us, and it was one of my best weekends here at Marquette after seeing how well we played against two very good opponents."
Boulieris, whose singles victory against Dartmouth clinched the win for Marquette on Friday, said he believes the Golden Eagles are a top-50 caliber team after going 5-1 on their recent home stand.
"We've been playing very good tennis," Boulieris said. "We lost to a very good Arizona State team by one point, and if we keep playing at this level, we should be ranked."
Medan echoed that sentiment.
"On paper we're not ranked," Medan said. "But we're playing like we're a top-50 team."
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