Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Tennis Travels To Los Angeles For NCAA Championships
May 07, 2014 | Cowboy Tennis
May 7, 2014
STILLWATER, Okla. -
The No. 29 Oklahoma State men's tennis team will open its 2014 NCAA Championships run on Saturday by taking on No. 37 Michigan at 11 a.m. in Los Angeles, Calif.
The Cowboys (21-7) earned the No.2 seed at the regional, hosted by USC, the tournament's top overall seed. The Trojans will take on fourth-seeded Idaho on Saturday at 2 p.m., with the winner advancing to face the victor of OSU's match against Michigan. A win over the Wolverines would mark the Cowboys' first NCAA Tournament win since 2008, when Oklahoma State defeated Denver and Tulsa en route to a Sweet Sixteen appearance.
Live scoring for Saturday's matchup can be found via USC's athletics web site, and fans can follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter for live updates.
Eyeing the Opposition
No. 37 Michigan (16-12) heads into Saturday's matchup after reaching the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, helping the team earn its ninth-consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. The Wolverines defeated nine ranked opponents over the course of the spring, including No. 18 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Mississippi and No. 24 Penn State.
Alex Petrone holds the No. 85 spot in the singles rankings, while Barrett Franks and Alex Buzzi combine to round out the trio of ranked Wolverines as the No. 40 doubles duo. The Cowboys will look to earn their first win over the Wolverines in school history, as Michigan took victories over OSU in 1983, 1981 and twice in 1979.
2014 NCAA Championships
On Tuesday, April 29, the Oklahoma State men's tennis team was selected to compete in its first NCAA Tennis Championships since 2009, ending a four-year drought for the squad. The NCAA awarded the Cowboys with an at-large bid and the No. 2 seed at the Los Angeles regional, hosted by USC, the tournament's top overall seed.
Oklahoma State will open play in Los Angeles on Saturday against Michigan at 11 a.m., looking to earn their first victory at the NCAA Championships since taking down Tulsa in the second round of the 2008 tournament. Live scoring for Saturday's match can be found at: http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-tennis/live-stats-courts-only.html.
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 9-10 singles record in 24 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. 77 as of May 1.
Sebastian Sachs premiered at No. 88 in the April 22 polls after taking down #6 Axel Alvarez Llamas on April 20, marking the Cowboys' first win over a top-10 singles opponent in 2014. Arjun Kadhe also earned a position in the polls after overpowering #29 Diego Galeano in the Cowboys' semifinal matchup against Baylor. The freshman debuted at No. 116 on May 1, marking the first time three Cowboys have simultaneously held singles rankings since April 1, 2008.
In the ITA National Doubles Rankings, undefeated Arjun Kadhe and Jakob Sude premiered at the No. 21 spot on April 8 after racking up eight consecutive wins to open the 2014 season, and currently stand at No. 14. The duo boasts wins over #11 Chappell/Stein (TCU), #16 Hess-Olesen/Glasspool (Texas) and #23 Webb/Harris (OU), and became the highest-ranked Cowboy Tennis tandem since Rifat Biktyakov and Aleksey Bessonov sat at No. 13 in the March 15, 2011 rankings.
Conference Champions
Arjun Kadhe and Jakob Sude were awarded the Big 12 No. 1 Doubles title 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 43-22 through 28 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.
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 8-6 against currently ranked opponents in 2014.
Home Cooking
The 2014 season has not only seen 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 run 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.
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.
Bring Out The Brooms
OSU has shutout ten opponents in 28 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 and Lamar.
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.
