TEMPE, Ari. (February 3, 2007) ? In its first road trip of the spring season, the University of South Florida men's tennis team fought hard but was narrowly defeated 4-3 by No. 57 Arizona State on Sat., Feb. 3rd.

The Sun Devils (4-0) grabbed the early doubles points with wins at positions one and three.  The USF team of Mahmoud Hamed and Thomas Estrada was the lone pair to emerge victorious, posting a 8-4 triumph over ASU's Nick Hegarty and Juan Carlos Rebaza.

The doubles point proved to be vital as the Bulls (1-1) rallied back in singles to take three from the Sun Devils, but ASU's Rebaza and Matt Brooklyn were able to hang on with wins in straight sets, and following with the winning point at spot No. 6 was Murilo Souza, defeating Mark Gattiker 6-3, 6-1.

Both of USF's newcomers, Hamed and Estrada, stayed perfect on the day with singles wins over Wes Miller and Hegarty to go along with their doubles victory.  Freshman Diego Toledo also collected his second victory of the year with a 7-6, 6-3 defeat of T.J. Bellama at the No. 5 spot.

The men's tennis team will return to the courts right away, as it will square off Sun. Feb. 4 against the No. 70 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos from Tempe.  The neutral site match is scheduled for noon eastern time.

ASU 4 USF 3

Doubles:

1.Brooklyn/Miller (ASU) def. Hipp/Jaeger (USF) 8-3
2.Hamed/Estrada (USF) def. Hegarty/Rebaza (ASU) 8-4
3.Bellama/Souza (ASU) def. Daudt/Gattiker (USF) 8-2
 
Singles:
 
1. Juan Carlos Rebaza (ASU) def. Henning Hipp (USF) 6-1, 6-4
2. Matt Brooklyn (ASU) def. Marc Jaeger (USF) 6-2, 6-2
3. Mahmoud Hamed (USF) def. Wes Miller (ASU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
4. Thomas Estrada (USF) def. Nick Hegarty (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Diego Toledo (USF) def. T.J. Bellama (ASU) 7-6, 6-3
6. Murilo Souza (ASU) def. Mark Gattiker (USF) 6-3, 6-1