Cowboys Ride Past Pioneers; Advance at NCAA Regional

TULSA, Okla. Â– Round one of the 2008 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship is in the books and the Oklahoma State Cowboys are moving on to the second round after defeating the 44^th-ranked Denver Pioneers, 4-3, in the opening round at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on Saturday.

Cowboy junior Nathan Byrnes found himself in a crucial match at No. 4 singles with the two teams knotted at 3-3. After dropping the first set to Denver's Benny Althaus, the Melbourne, Australia, native fought back to win the second and third set, 6-4, 6-3, to clinch the win for the Pokes.

Early on, OSU picked up the doubles point to jump ahead, 1-0, in the match. After senior Ivan Puchkarov and sophomore Dmytro Petrov picked up and 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles, OSU's duo of Byrnes and sophomore Oleksandr Nedovyesov, ranked 18^th in the country, clinched the point with an 8-5 win over the 12^th-ranked tandem of Denver's Adam Holmstrom and NIklas Persson.

“We played really well to get the doubles point,” said Cowboy head coach James Wadley. “Our No. 2 team got a solid win and Oleksandr and Nathan played extremely well to beat the #12 duo in the country.”

In singles play, freshman Anton Bobytskyi defeated Denver's Andrew Landwerelen, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 5 to put the Pokes up 2-0. After freshman Igor Sobolta lost at No. 6, third-ranked Nedovyesov won a hard-fought match at No. 1 over 36^th-ranked Adam Holmstrom to extend the lead to 3-1.

Back-to-back Cowboy losses at No. 2 and No. 3 evened the lead at 3-3 before Byrnes pulled out the three-set win to push the Cowboys into the second round.

“I was still pretty confident in myself after losing the first set,” said Byrnes. “He was playing really well on the baseline so I tried to shorten the game and play the net. I won the second set and came out and really hit my first serves well in the third set.”

“Denver really matched up well with us and it feels good to get the win. Now, we need to get some rest and come back ready to play tomorrow.”

The Cowboys will be back in action tomorrow as they face the winner of today's Tulsa-Binghamton match in the second round. That match is set for 1 p.m. at Tulsa's Case Tennis Center.

#20 Oklahoma State University 4, #44 University of Denver 3

NCAA Regional Opening Round

Michael D. Case Tennis Center

Tulsa, Okla.

5/10/2008

Singles competition

1. #3 Oleksandr Nedovyesov (OSU) def. #36 Adam Holmstrom (DU) 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3)

2. Niklas Persson (DU) def. #71 Ivan Puchkarov (OSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

3. David Simson (DU) def. Dmytro Petrov (OSU) 6-3, 7-6

4. Nathan Byrnes (OSU) def. Benny Althaus (DU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

5. Anton Bobytskyi (OSU) def. Andrew Landwerelen (DU) 6-3, 6-1

6. Kalle Rosen (DU) def. Igor Sobolta (OSU) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. #18 Nathan Byrnes/Oleksandr Nedovyesov (OSU) def. #12 Adam Holmstrom/Niklas Persson (DU) 8-5

2. Dmytro Petrov/Ivan Puchkarov (OSU) def. Andrew Landwerelen/David Simson (DU) 8-3

3. Anton Bobytskyi/Igor Sobolta (OSU) vs. Benny Althaus/Kalle Rosen (DU) 5-6, unfinished

Match Notes:

University of Denver 13-8; National ranking #44

Oklahoma State University 17-9; National ranking #20

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,6,1,2,3,4)

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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