Oklahoma State University Athletics
Men's Tennis Advances to Sweet Sixteen
May 11, 2003 | Cowboy Tennis
After falling behind 2-0 Cowboys battled back to win four straight singles matches to claim the victory. Sophomore Mark Van Elden recorded the first point for the Cowboys at the No. 1 singles spot defeating Aleksey Zharinov, 7-5, 6-3. Senior Jiri Jezek tied the score 2-2 with a, 5-7,6-3,6-4, win over Manuel Lievano at No. 4 singles.
The Cowboys took a 3-2 lead when freshman Tomas Bohunicky won the final three games of the third set to defeat Avery Ticer, 6-1,5-7, 6-4, at No. 5 singles. Sophomore Boris Kuharic, a former Golden Gopher, clinched the match for the Cowboys at the No. 3 singles position defeating Chris Wettengel, 3-6,6-4,7-6(5).
“Both teams played terrific,” said Head Coach James Wadley. “We had our backs against the wall, but we’ve been in this position before and have come back. Mark’s (Van Elden) win at No. 1 got us going and Boris came back to Minnesota and was the hero.”
With the win the Cowboys advance to next week’s NCAA Sweet Sixteen in Athens, Ga. where they will play the winner of the match between No. 6 UCLA and Southern California.
Doubles 1) Ticer/Haug (MN) def. Van Elden/Jezek (OSU), 8-3 2) Bondarchuk/Spousta (OSU) vs. Lievano/Estes (MN); DNF 3) Zharinov/Eric Robertson (MN) def. Kuharic/Diaz (OSU); 8-5 Order of Finish: 1,3 Singles 1) Mark Van Elden (OSU) def. Aleksey Zharinov (MN), 7-5,6-3 2) Yevgen Bondarchuk (OSU) vs. Thomas Haug (MN), DNF 3) Boris Kuharic (OSU) def. Chris Wettengel (MN), 3-6,6-4,7-6(5) 4) Jiri Jezek (OSU) def. Manuel Lievano (MN), 5-7,6-3,6-4 5) Tomas Bohunicky (OSU) def. Avery Ticer (MN), 6-1,5-7,6-4 6) Clay Estes (MN) def. Jiri Spousta (OSU), 6-3,6-0 Order of Finish: 6,1,4,5,3
