Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Selected for NCAA Regional
June 21, 1999 | Cowboy Tennis
May 8, 1998
STILLWATER, Okla. - The 26th-ranked Oklahoma State men's tennis team has been selected to the NCAA Championship field and will be one of six teams to compete at the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Region V Championship.
The Cowboys, currently ranked No. 1 in Region V, will be the No. 2 seed at the regional site on the campus of the University of Tulsa. The tournament begins Friday, May 15, with No. 3 seed Tulsa meeting No. 6 Colorado and No. 3 Kansas facing No. 4 Oklahoma. The Cowboys will play the Tulsa-Colorado winner on Saturday, May 16, while top-seeded and 13th-ranked California will face the Kansas-Oklahoma winner. The semifinal winners will meet in the regional championship Sunday, May 17.
In all, eight regionals will be conducted May 15-17, with the winner of each regional advancing to the finals. The finals will be conducted May 23-31 at the University of Georgia. Eight teams have already been selected to advance automatically to the finals.
OSU (16-5) is led by senior Pavel Kudrnac, the top-ranked individual in the ITA rankings for most of the year. Kudrnac, who won Big 12 singles titles and was named Big 12 Player of the Year in both 1997 and 1998, also won the National Clay Court and the ITA National Indoor Championship singles titles this season.
Kudrnac and his teammate, Martin Dvoracek, won the ITA National Indoor Championship doubles title as well as the Big 12 No. 1 doubles title in 1998. Dvoracek and Kudrnac are currently ranked No. 2 in the nation and have been ranked No. 1 for much of the year.
OSUs 16-5 record in 1998 includes narrow losses to fifth-ranked Texas, one of eight teams to have already earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Finals, and No. 11 Texas A&M. Four OSU players won Big 12 singles titles (Kudrnac at No. 1, Chris Bates at No. 4, Rob Howarth at No. 5 and Dabiel Russo at No. 6), and two doubles teams won titles as well (Kudrnac and Dvoracek at No. 1 and Bates and Brad Chiller at No. 2). OSU finished the season third in the league standings.
The Cowboys have met both potential semifinal opponents this season, defeating Tulsa 6-1 and Colorado 7-0. Cowboys coach James Wadley said, "The regional is very strong, and we look forward to the challenge."
1998 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Region V Championship
May 15-17, Harwell Tennis Courts, Tulsa, Okla.
Quarterfinals, Friday, May 15
#4 Kansas vs. #5 Oklahoma, 9 a.m.
#3 Tulsa vs. #6 Colorado, 1 p.m.
Semifinals, Saturday, May 16
#1 California vs. Kansas-Oklahoma winner, 9 a.m.
#2 Oklahoma State vs. Tulsa-Colorado winner, 1 p.m.
Championship, Sunday, May 17
Semifinal Winners, 12 p.m.
For further information on the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship, see the NCAA Championships web site.
