Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Tennis Travels to Chicago
February 15, 2005 | Cowboy Tennis
The 15th-seeded Cowboys (5-1) open the first round against No. 2 UCLA (8-0) Thursday at noon, at the event which features the nation's top 16 teams. Oklahoma State is 0-2 all-time against the Bruins, most recently dropping a 4-0 decision in the 2003 NCAA Sweet 16.
In the only meeting between members of either school this season, OSU's Mark Van Elden defeated UCLA's Chris Lam, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 at the Icy Hot/ITA All-American in October.
The Cowboys qualified for the tournment by winning the Central Regional on October 31 in Fayetteville, Ark. They defeated Arkansas and Oklahoma, each by a score of 4-1, to receive the region's automatic bid.
“We played very well to qualify for this tournament,” head coach James Wadley said. “It's going to be really tough, but we are very excited to be there.”
This is OSU's first appearance at the National Indoors since 2001. That year, they also entered as the No. 15 seed and staged the largest upset in the history of the event, knocking off No. 2 Tennessee in the first round.
The Pokes split a pair of matches last weekend, shutting out Indiana State, 7-0, and dropping a hard fought 5-1 decision to Rice.
Win or lose, the Cowboys will play their second round match on Friday at noon against either Stanford or Virginia. The other teams in their half of the bracket are Florida, Harvard, Ole Miss and Southern Cal.
