Men's Tennis Comes Back to Defeat Sooners, 4-3

Seniors Boris Kuharic and Mark Van Elden each defeated ranked opponents to seal Oklahoma State's 4-3 victory over Oklahoma on Wednesday at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman.

The match was the conference finale for the Cowboys, who improved to 18-5 on the season and 5-2 in league play with their 12^th consecutive win over Oklahoma. The Sooners fell to 17-4 on the year and 2-4 in conference.

“It was a tremendous effort from the whole team,” said head coach James Wadley. “Our guys played great in windy conditions in front of a hostile crowd after losing the doubles point.”

The Sooners jumped out to an early lead after winning the top two doubles matches. The Cowboys picked the victory at No. 3, where junior Tomas Bohunicky and sophomore Artie Burmistrau topped Alexei Ivanov and Federico Chavarria, 8-2, to improve to 17-4 on the year.

Tommy Garrison extended the Oklahoma lead to 2-0 after defeating Burmistrau, 7-5, 6-2, at the four spot.

The Cowboys tied the score after sophomore Daniel Byrnes and junior Felipe Diaz picked up straight set victories over Silviu Tanasoiu and Lee Gregg, respectively.

On the No. 2 court, Ondrej Fukala picked up 7-5, 7-5 over Bohunicky to pull the Sooners back into the lead, 3-2.

Moments later, Van Elden tied the score once again, ripping a powerful forehand past 52^nd-ranked Marek Velicka to claim a 7-6, 7-5 win.

With a 3-3 team score, Kuharic held a 4-1 third set lead over Oklahoma's Ivanov before the two traded three service games to bring the score to 5-3. Kuharic served with double match point before Ivanov, the No. 96 player in the country, fought back to gain the advantage, then regained the momentum as Ivanov hit one return long and another into the net to give the dual to the Cowboys.

The Cowboys return to action at 2 p.m. Tuesday when they host Wichita State in the regular season finale.

Doubles

No. 1 Â– Garrison/Fukala (OU) def. No. 54 Kuharic/Diaz (OSU); 8-2

No. 2 Â– Velicka/Tanasoiu (OU) def. Byrnes/Van Elden (OSU); 8-5

No. 3 Â– Bohunicky/Burmistrau (OSU) def. Ivanov/Federico Chavarria (OU); 8-2

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles

No. 1 Â– No. 34 Mark Van Elden (OSU) def. No. 52 Marek Velicka (OU); 7-6 (4), 7-5

No. 2 Â– Ondrej Fukala (OU) def. No. 106 Tomas Bohunicky (OSU); 7-5, 7-5

No. 3 Â– Boris Kuharic (OSU) def. No. 96 Alexei Ivanov (OU); 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3

No. 4 Â– Tommy Garrison (OU) def. Artsem Burmistrau (OSU); 7-5, 6-2

No. 5 Â– Daniel Byrnes (OSU) def. Silviu Tanasoiu (OU); 6-4, 6-1

No. 6 Â– Felipe Diaz (OSU) def. Lee Gregg (OU); 6-4, 6-3

Order of finish: 4, 5, 6, 2, 1, 3

Oklahoma State University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos