Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Tennis Set For 2014 Big 12 Championships
April 23, 2014 | Cowboy Tennis
April 23, 2014
FORT WORTH, Texas -
The No. 28 Oklahoma State men's tennis team will open play in the 2014 Big 12 Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, by taking on fourth-seeded Texas Tech on Friday at 9 a.m.
The Cowboys (20-6, 1-4 Big 12) came up short in their regular-season finale on Sunday, as they fell to second-ranked Oklahoma, 6-1, and will begin postseason play looking to end a three-match skid and avenge Texas Tech's 5-2 win over OSU on April 11. A win would place the Pokes in a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Baylor on Saturday at 12 p.m.
Tickets to this weekend's tournament can be purchased through the TCU ticket office, which can be reached by calling (877)-828-3764. All session passes cost $15 for adults and $10 for youth. Daily tickets are also available for $5 for adults and $4 for youth. For more information and updates, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter.
Eyeing the Opposition
Texas Tech and the Cowboys shared identical 1-4 conference records, but the Red Raiders were awarded the higher seed based on their 5-2 victory over Oklahoma State earlier this year. The Pokes were able to grab the doubles point from Texas Tech when two teams met on April 11, but the Red Raiders earned wins in singles play at Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 to clinch the victory.
Tech boasts wins over eight ranked opponents, and each of the team's losses have come to teams currently ranked in the top 50. Hugo Dojas (#99) and Felipe Soares (#64) run the Red Raiders' singles attack. Dojas and teammate Maxime Hinnisdaels also own the No. 87 spot in ITA's National Doubles rankings.
The Cowboys will look to end a six-match slide against the Red Raiders, who have won each meeting since OSU grabbed a 4-3 win over Tech in the 2009 Big 12 Tournament. Oklahoma State will also look to narrow the all-time head-to-head series, as Texas Tech currently holds a 17-13 advantage.
Welcome to the Rankings
Three members of the 2014 Cowboy Tennis squad were inserted into the ITA National Rankings on Feb. 11, marking the first time a Cowboy individual has been represented in the polls this season.
Junior Jakob Sude received the first individual ranking of his career, coming in at No. 70 in ITA's National Singles Rankings. Sude has compiled a 9-8 singles record in 22 appearances, highlighted by his straight sets victory over Tennessee's Mikelis Libietis, formerly the nation's 34th-ranked singles standout, as well as a strong performance in an unfinished match against No. 12 Danii Proskura. Sude currently sits at No. 70 as of April 22. Sude's ranking is the highest in singles since former Cowboy Vlad Bondarenko's No. 60 position on Jan. 3, 2012.
Sebastian Sachs also earned a spot in this year's singles rankings, as he premiered at No. 88 in the April 22 singles rankings. Sachs took down #6 Axel Alvarez Llamas in Sunday's Bedlam battle, marking the Cowboys' first win over a top-10 singles opponent in 2014.
In the ITA National Doubles Rankings, undefeated Arjun Kadhe and Jakob Sude premiered at the No. 21 spot on April 8, and currently stand at No. 16 after accumulating a 10-1 regular-season record. The duo boasts wins over #10 Chappell/Stein (TCU), #18 Webb/Harris (Oklahoma) and #11 Hess-Olesen/Glasspool (Texas), and became the highest-ranked Cowboy Tennis tandem since Rifat Biktyakov and Aleksey Bessonov sat at No. 13 in the March 15, 2011 rankings.
2014 Big 12 Championships
With a 1-4 finish in conference play, Oklahoma State will appear as the No. 5 seed in this weekend's Big 12 Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. The Cowboys will face No. 4 Texas Tech in the first round on Friday at 9 a.m., and will look to avenge Texas Tech's 5-2 win over OSU earlier this season. After earning their first conference win since a 4-3 victory over Texas Tech in 2009, Oklahoma State will have a chance at repeating that same feat in Friday's matchup. A win would pit the Cowboys against top-seeded Baylor in the semifinals, as the Bears were awarded the tournament's No. 1 seed despite finishing in a three-way tie with Oklahoma and Texas. Live scoring will be provided on Twitter at @CowboyTennis.
Conference Champions
Arjun Kadhe and Jakob Sude were awarded the Big 12 No. 1 Doubles title on Tuesday after racking up a 4-1 record against conference opponents in 2014. Kadhe and Sude were nearly perfect in dual match competition, as they took down three ranked opponents en route to a 10-1 overall record. The duo's conference position title is the first for the Cowboys since Chris Haworth earned the No. 3 singles honor in 2012.
Doubles Domination
The 2013 Cowboy Tennis squad saw its doubles team compile a 37-14 dual record, marking a massive improvement for the team and helping OSU begin to develop a reputation as one of the nation's up-and-coming doubles powers.
That success has passed on into 2014, as the Cowboys' doubles squads remain an impressive 41-20 though 26 matches in dual play. The team also provided strong performances in the fall despite pairing with new partners, as Oklahoma State sent two doubles teams to the quarterfinal round of ITA's Central Region Championships.
Shock And Awe
After defeating Georgia St. on Feb. 9, the Cowboys reached 8-0 for the first time in school history, setting a school record for the best start ever for Cowboy Tennis. The eight wins to begin the season surpassed the 1998 squad's six and the previous-high of seven from 1997. The Cowboys' loss at No. 32 Tulsa on Feb. 23 ended the team's record start.
Home Cooking
The 2014 season not only saw the Cowboys jump out to their best start in school history, but also helped OSU compile its longest home winning streak since a 12-match streak from 2006-08.
The Pokes finished with an 11-4 record at the Greenwood Tennis Center in 2014, highlighted by wins over Tennessee, Dartmouth, East Tennessee State and Minnesota.
Strength of Schedule
Coach Udwadia has given the Cowboys a challenging task for the spring by scheduling 16 ranked opponents, giving OSU the 33rd most difficult schedule in the country based on number of ranked opponents faced and quality of opponent.
The team's tough slate includes six matches against teams ranked in the top 25, as well as contests against top-10 opponents Baylor, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Seven of the Cowboys' ranked opponents will visit Stillwater, including three in the top ten. OSU is 8-4 against currently ranked opponents in 2014.
Bring Out The Brooms
OSU has shutout ten opponents in 26 matches this season, the most in as many matches since the 2006 squad that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2014, the Cowboys have swept currently-ranked opponents San Diego State, Dartmouth and Alabama, as well as South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, New Orleans, Oral Roberts, Nebraska-Omaha, Lamar and San Francisco.
The Future Is Now
The Cowboys bring in the year with a bang by debuting the Greenwood Tennis Center, Oklahoma State's newest athletic facility that will give the tennis program its first new home in more than 30 years. The state-of-the-art complex houses six indoor courts and 12 future outdoor courts, as well as an electronic scoreboard and videoboard.
2014 will also mark the debut of new assistant coach Pepe Cabellero, who joins the Cowboys after serving two years as head coach of the Hong Kong Tennis Association. Caballero takes the team's position after former assistant Yevgen Bondarchuk held the spot for the last eight years.
Taking Their Talents to Stillwater
Head Coach Jay Udwadia's 2014 signing class brings five new members to the Cowboy Tennis squad and is highlighted by several international standouts, as well as last year's top high school player in Oklahoma.
- Sebastian Sachs (Ditzingen, Germany) – posted a 4-4 fall record that included a semifinal trip in the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational. Sachs has also made a name for himself on the international circuit by earning several ATP points and performing well against international competition.
- Arjun Kadhe (Pune, India) – has experience in each of the four Grand Slams at the junior level, including a quarterfinal doubles run at last year's French Open. He has also consistently held a No. 1 ranking in each of India's junior age groups.
- Lucas Gerch (Berlin, Germany) – combined with Vasili Caripi to reach the doubles quarterfinal at last fall's ITA Central Region Championships, finishing the season with a 6-1 doubles mark. Gerch also went 2-4 in singles play.
- Nathan Roper (Edmond, Okla.) – earned Oklahoma's Jim Thorpe Player of the Year award twice after winning three consecutive individual state champions at Edmond North HS. Roper was also named an Army National Reserve Scholar-Athlete, and led Edmond North to team state championships in each of his four varsity years.
- Nicolai Ferrigno (Hvidovre, Denmark) – joins the Cowboys after two successful years at Cameron University. Ferrigno compiled an impressive 22-2 singles mark last year at Cameron, and finished the season ranked No. 18 in ITA's Division II rankings.
