Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Open Up Big 12 Road Schedule
April 10, 2013 | Cowboy Tennis
April 10, 2013
STILLWATER, Okla. -
Oklahoma State's men's tennis team will travel to Lubbock on Friday to take on No. 44 Texas Tech at 6 p.m., followed by a road match in Waco with the 15th-ranked Baylor Bears at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
OSU (11-10) is coming off two tough losses at the hands of top-40 foes TCU and Texas last weekend. The Cowboys will look to earn their first Big 12 victory of the season during the team's road trip.
Fans can follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter for live match scores and updated information.
Eyeing the Opposition
The 44th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders come into Friday's match with a 14-7 overall record and a 0-1 mark in Big 12 play. The squad's most impressive win came when it defeated No. 29 Cornell in March at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic. OSU owns a 17-10 advantage over the Red Raiders in the all-time series.
No. 15 Baylor (15-4) will be the Cowboys' third top-20 opponent of the season. The Bears' spring slate is highlighted by an eight-match winning streak in which they defeated No. 5 Kentucky and 16th-ranked Florida. The Cowboys are 6-21 all-time against Baylor, with their last win coming in 2008.
International Influx
Much of the Cowboys' early season success can be attributed to the team's large percentage of international players recruited by Jay Udwadia and Yevgen Bondarchuk.
Those internationals include three Cowboy newcomers who have helped the Cowboys match their best start since 2009.
- Oleksiy Arovin (Ukraine): 4-3 singles record at No. 6…6-1 doubles record at No. 3 with Brady Bohrnstedt…Joined the Cowboys this year after previously playing at Donetsk National University in Ukraine.
- Rifat Biktyakov (Uzbekistan): 9-2 doubles record at Nos. 1 and 2 with Matt Campbell…Recorded match-winning victory against Nebraska…Has accumulated a 43-37 overall singles record in four years with Oklahoma State.
- Matt Campbell (Australia): 9-2 doubles record at Nos. 1 and 2…Joined OSU after reaching the JUCO national championship with Tyler Junior College in 2011 and 2012.
- Denys Pume (Ukraine): 8-10 singles record at Nos. 2, 3 and 4…12-4 doubles record at Nos. 1 and 2.
Last Time Out
Complete Results
No. 16 Texas 7, Oklahoma State 0
April 7, 2013 | Stillwater, Okla. | DeBois Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. Ben Chen/Daniel Whitehead (UT) def. #70 Richard Del Nunzio/Denys Pume (OSU) 8-3
2. Sudanwa Sitaram/Chris Camillone (UT) def. Chris Haworth/Brady Bohrnstedt (OSU) 8-5
3. Rifat Biktyakov/Oleksiy Arovin (OSU) def. Nick Naumann/Lloyd Glasspool (UT) 8-5
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. #58 Soren Hess-Olesen (UT) def. Rifat Biktyakov (OSU) 6-1, 6-0
2. Lloyd Glasspool (UT) def. Chris Haworth (OSU) 6-2, 6-1
3. #85 Daniel Whitehead (UT) def. Denys Pume (OSU) 5-7, 6-3, 10-5
4. #108 Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) def. Richard Del Nunzio (OSU) 6-4, 4-6, 10-7
5. Nick Naumann (UT) def. Brady Bohrnstedt (OSU) 6-4, 6-3
6. David Holiner (UT) def. Trevor Horstmann (OSU) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 6, 5, 4, 3
Doubles Domination
In 17 of 21 matches this season, the Cowboys have gained an early lead by winning each match's doubles point. After being swept in the season opener by 19th-ranked Tennessee, the Cowboys won 32 straight doubles matches before falling at SMU on March 30. The biggest contributors to that category are Rifat Biktyakov and Matt Campbell, who have achieved a 9-2 mark together in doubles play.
