Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Tennis Rolls Past Longhorns, 5-2
April 03, 2005 | Cowboy Tennis
The Cowboys (14-4, 4-1) fell in an early hole when junior Felipe Diaz and senior Boris Kuharic dropped the No. 1 doubles match to Callum Beale and Travis Helgeson, 8-2. Junior Tomas Bohunicky and sophomore Artie Burmistrau quickly evened the score with an 8-4 win over Garrett Snyder and Luis Diaz-Barriga.
All eyes were on Van Elden and Byrnes at the No. 2 position, where the duo was involved in a back-and-forth match with Roger Gubser and Hubert Chodkiewicz. With the score knotted at 8-8, the match went into an equally competitive tie-break that ended with the Longhorns watching a forehand fall between them that gave OSU the 9-8 (7-5) win.
“Texas is always very good,” said head coach James Wadley. “Doubles was critical, and we got a tremendous effort from the guys.”
Texas evened the match score at 1-1 after Snyder grabbed a 6-4, 6-4 win over Diaz at No. 6 singles.
The Pokes regained the lead after Kuharic picked up a big 7-6, 6-4 win over Gubser at the No. 3 position. Kuharic trailed 3-2 in the second set before coming back to win four of the final five games to defeat the 65th-ranked left-hander.
Moments later, Van Elden pushed the lead to 3-1 by knocking off 25th-ranked Beale at the top position, 7-5, 6-3. The senior from Australia looked to be cruising through the match with a 5-2 first set lead, but Beale came back to tie it at five before Van Elden closed the set out. Beale offered less resistance in the second set as Van Elden closed out the final game with a cross-court forehand to the delight of the crowd.
Bohunicky clinched the match for the Cowboys at the No. 2 position by beating Helgeson in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6. Helgeson, the No. 1 recruit in the country entering this season, took a 4-2 lead in the second set but could not hold off Bohunicky, who tied the set at six and then carried that momentum through the tie-break, winning 7-2.
“To beat them in straight sets at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 is awesome,” Wadley added.
Burmistrau provided the final point for OSU, beating Hubert Chodkiewicz at the No. 5 spot, 5-7, 6-4 (10-3). The Minsk, Belarus, native bounced back from a poor first set to win the second and then dominated the 10-point tie-break, holding Chodkiewicz to only three points. The coaches agreed to play the tie-break instead of a third set because OSU had already won the match.
The Cowboys are back in action tomorrow at 2 p.m. against No. 15 Texas A&M in Stillwater.
Doubles
No. 1 - No. 53 Beale/Helgeson (UT) def. No. 47 Kuharic/Diaz (OSU); 8-2
No. 2 - Van Elden/Byrnes (OSU) def. Gubser/Chodkiewicz (UT); 9-8 (7-5)
No. 3 - Bohunicky/Burmistrau (OSU) def. Snyder/Luis Diaz-Barriga (UT); 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
No. 1 - No. 30 Mark Van Elden (OSU) def. No. 25 Callum Beale (UT); 7-5, 6-3
No. 2 - Tomas Bohunicky (OSU) def. Travis Helgeson (UT); 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
No. 3 - Boris Kuharic (OSU) def. No. 65 Roger Gubser (UT); 7-6, 6-4
No. 4 - Milan Mihailovic (UT) def. Daniel Byrnes (OSU); 7-6, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 5 - Artie Burmistrau (OSU) def. Hubert Chodkiewicz (UT); 5-7, 6-4 (10-3)
No. 6 - Garrett Snyder (UT) def. Felipe Diaz (OSU); 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 1, 2, 5, 4
