Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Tennis Falls in NCAA First Round
May 08, 2009 | Cowboy Tennis
May 8, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Oklahoma State's men's tennis team fell 4-3 to Hawaii in the first-round of the NCAA Tennis Championships in Los Angeles.
The No. 20 Cowboys end their season with a 14-8 record, including a 3-3 mark in Big 12 play. It is the first time OSU has been unable to advance to at least the NCAA second round since 2004.
Hawaii improved to 11-9 and advances to play the winner of regional host UCLA and Southern Illinois tomorrow.
With the match tied at 3, the No. 2 singles match was the only one left on the court. Cowboy senior Nathan Byrnes was able to win a second-set tiebreaker to force a third set, but eventually fell to Hawaii's Andreas Weber 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1
The Cowboys opened the match with victories at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles to take a 1-0 lead. The No. 2 doubles match was unfinished. OSU's Aleksey Bessonov and Anton Bobytskyi opened with an 8-5 win over Craig Faulk and Sascha Heinemann at No. 3 doubles.
The ninth-ranked team of Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Nathan Byrnes downed Jeff Fitch and Dennis Lajola 8-5 at No. 1 doubles to clinch the doubles point. The Cowboy duo will compete in the NCAA doubles championships which begin May 20.
Hawaii got on the board with Fitch's 6-2, 6-0 win over Bobytskyi at No. 5 singles. OSU countered and pushed its lead to 2-1 when Igor Sobolta downed HU's Phillip Eberhard 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 6 slot.
However, HU took a 3-2 lead with straight-set wins at Nos. 3 and 4 singles. The Cowboys scored their third point with a win at No. 1 singles. Leo Rosenberg bested Bessonov 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 singles to tie the match at 2. Heinemann quickly follwed with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Mikhail Trukshanin at the No. 4 slot to give the Warriors their first lead at 3-2.
OSU tied the match at No. 1 singles when the second-ranked Nedovyesov downed Lajola 6-1, 7-6 (4). The Alushta, Ukraine, native will compete in the NCAA singles championships that begin May 20.
Match Results Hawaii 4, Oklahoma State 3 DOUBLES No. 1 - Byrnes/Nedovyesov (OSU) def. Fitch/Lajola 8-5 No. 2 - Rosenberg/Weber (HU) led Sobolta/Trukshanin 7-6 No 3 - Bessonov/Bobytskyi (OSU) def. Craig Faulk/Heinemann 8-5 Order of finish: 3, 1*
SINGLES No. 1 - Oleksandry Nedovyesov (OSU) def. Dennis Lajola 6-1, 7-6 (4) No. 2 - Andreas Weber (UH) def. Nathan Byrnes 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1 No. 3 - Leo Rosenberg (UH) def. Aleksey Bessonov 6-3, 6-4 No. 4 - Sascha Heinemann (UH) def. Mikhail Trukshanin 6-2, 7-5 No. 5 - Jeff Fitch (UH) def. Anton Bobytskyi 6-2, 6-0 No. 6 - Igor Sobolta (OSU) def. Phillip Eberhard 6-1, 6-2 Order of finish: 5, 6, 3, 4, 1, 2*
