Men's tennis hosts Pac-10 foes USC & UCLA

April 08, 2008

This Week The No. 18 Arizona State men's tennis team has a big weekend ahead of them as they host No. 5 UCLA and No. 6 USC. Friday's match against the Trojans begins at 1:30 p.m. while Saturday's action against the Bruins will begin at 1 p.m. Both matches will take place at the ASU Whiteman Tennis Center. The Bruins are 17-1 while USC is 17-3. The Sun Devils are 14-2 and prior to their dual match winning streak snapped at 12, the Sun Devils were off to their best start since 1979, when the Sun Devils went 14-0. The Sun Devils have a flawless 7-0 record at the Whiteman Tennis Center this season. <separator></separator>Sun Devils in the Rankings With two wins last weekend, the Sun Devils moved up four spots to No. 18, making it the fifth straight week the Sun Devils have been in the top 25. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/arango_andres00.html">… Arango</a> remained at No. 61 while <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/brooklyn_matt00.html">… Brooklyn</a> continued to be 116th nationally. Brooklyn and his doubles partner <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/bellama_tj00.html">T.J. Bellama</a> are 53rd in doubles. <separator></separator>Series History ASU is 2-62 against the Bruins and 9-49 against the Trojans. <separator></separator>Up Next The Sun Devils close out the regular season hosting in-state rival Arizona. The Sun Devils topped the Wildcats 4-3 in Tucson earlier this season. <separator></separator>Recap ASU picked up from its first two losses of the season by notching two conference wins against Oregon and No. 23 Washington. The Sun Devils blanked the Ducks 7-0 and earned a 5-2 win over the Huskies. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/arango_andres00.html">… Arango</a>, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/skinner_harry00.html">… Skinner</a>, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/bellama_tj00.html">T.J. Bellama</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/miller_wes00.html">Wes Miller</a> won both their doubles and singles matches in both matches. Arango only dropped a total of eight games over the weekend. <separator></separator>Doubles Depth The Sun Devil doubles teams have proven to be a strong force in the team's record. ASU has only lost three doubles points this year and has swept doubles seven times. The duo of <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/arango_andres00.html">… Arango</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/skinner_harry00.html">… Skinner</a> has just dropped two matches this season. The duo of <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/miller_wes00.html">Wes Miller</a><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/nanoskyii_john00.html"… Nanosky II</a> also has only two losses on record. The team of Bellama and Brooklyn are currently ranked 53rd. and<separator></separator>T.J. Takes Honor For the second consecutive week and third time this season, a Sun Devil netter has claimed the title Pac-10 Player of the Week. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/bellama_tj00.html">T.J. Bellama</a> earned the honor for the week of March 10-16. After dropping his first set to Clemson's Derek DiFazio, he battled back through two tough sets to pick up the victory in the number six position 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Playing in the number five position, Bellama handily defeated Georgia Tech's Miguel Muguruza in straight sets, winning 6-1, 6-1.<separator></separator>Rebaza Rewarded <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/rebaza_juancarlos00.ht… Carlos Rebaza</a> was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the week of March 3-9. Against Pierre Mouillon of California, Rebaza battled back from dropping the second set to take the match thanks to a spirited performance in the tiebreaker, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4). Rebaza upset No. 85 Richard Wire of Stanford the following day in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. This is the first weekly honor for Rebaza. <separator></separator>Brooklyn Honored <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/brooklyn_matt00.html">… Brooklyn</a> was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 11-17. Brooklyn, playing out of the No. 1 position in singles, remained undefeated (5-0) over the weekend to lead the Sun Devils to victories on the road over Marquette and Northwestern and maintain their undefeated record in dual match play (5-0).