Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Tennis Set for ITA Kickoff Weekend
January 23, 2015 | Cowboy Tennis
The Basics
The No. 24 Oklahoma State men's tennis squad travels to South Bend, Ind., this weekend to compete in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Pokes will start competition on Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. against host and No. 14 Notre Dame. Depending on day one's outcomes, the Cowboys will either face No. 16 Columbia or No. 17 Tennessee on Jan. 25.
Keep Up with the Match
Fans can follow all the action this weekend through updates on Twitter by following @CowboyTennis. There will also be live stats on und.com as well as live video on watchnd.tv.
In the ITA Rankings
The Cowboys moved up a spot this week in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings and enter the event No. 24. All of Oklahoma State's potential opponents this weekend are ranked as Notre Dame is No. 14, Columbia comes in at No. 16 and Tennessee carries a No. 17 ranking.
Two OSU players make appearances in the ITA singles rankings with sophomore All-American Arjun Kadhe at No. 74 and senior and fellow All-American Jakob Sude at No. 98. Notre Dames has two singles players ranked in Quentin Monaghan (No. 37) and Josh Hagar (No. 82). Columbia's Winston Lin and Mike Vermeer are ranked No. 22 and No. 124, respectively. Tennessee has Mikelis Libietus ranked No. 16.
Kadhe and Sude also enter the event as the 12th-ranked doubles team in the nation. Columbia has the second-ranked and 45th-ranked doubles teams, Columbia has the No. 10 and No. 21 teams, and Notre Dame owns the No. 8 and No. 9 spots in the doubles rankings.
Last Time Out
No. 25 Oklahoma State 5, Oral Roberts 0
Jan. 19, 2015 :: Greenwood Tennis Center :: 12 p.m.
Doubles | Order of finish: 1, 3
No. 1 - Sude/Meraut (OSU) def. Capdeaui/Pehnec (ORU), 6-0
No. 2 - Lu. Gerch/Le. Gerch (OSU) vs. Lavers/Saletovic (ORU), 5-2 unf.
No. 3 - Roper/Finzelberg (OSU) def. Sosnowski/Santamaria (ORU), 6-2
Singles | Order of finish: 6, 3, 4*, 1
No. 1 - Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Amar Saletovic (ORU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 - Tristan Meraut (OSU) vs. Alejandro Capdeaui (ORU), 6-2, 5-3 unf.
No. 3 - Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) def. Jan Pehnec (ORU), 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 - Leonard Gerch (OSU) def. Alvaro Santamaria (ORU), 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 - Nathan Roper (OSU) vs. Ciaran Lavers (ORU), 6-0, 5-4 unf.
No. 6 - Trent Botha (OSU) def. Michael Sosnowski (ORU), 6-1, 6-1
Fall Review
Oklahoma State is coming off a fall season, where several Cowboys gained experience, playing all over the country. The Pokes had a strong showing as three players picked up at least one win at the ITA All-American Championship, which is considered the most prestigious tournament of fall.
Arjun Kadhe produced a runner-up finish at the Cajun Classic early in the fall and finished out his fall advancing to the round of 16 at the ITA Central Region Championships.
Nicolai Ferrigno also made his way to the round of 16 of the ITA Central Regional, notching a dominant straight-set win over Amar Saletovic (ORU).
All-American Jakob Sude competed in only two events this fall: ITA All-American Championship and ITA Central Region Championship.
Cowboys vs. Opponents
The Cowboys own a series advantage over Tennessee, 1-0, as the two teams met for the first time last season when the then-No. 50 Cowboys upset the No. 6 Volunteers, 4-2, at the Greenwood Tennis Center. Notre Dame leads the Cowboys, 2-0, in the series. The last meeting between OSU and ND came in 1994.
The Cowboys have yet to meet up with Columbia.
The Team
Coach Jay Udwadia enters the 2015 spring season with a full roster of 10 Cowboys. He returns two All-Americans in senior Jakob Sude and sophomore Arjun Kadhe as well as the team's Most Valuable Player for the 2014 season, Lucas Gerch. Denmark native and senior Nicolai Ferrigno returns for his second and final season with the Cowboys, while youngsters Nathan Roper and Lukas Finzelberg round out the returners for the Pokes.
New to the lineup is Jurence Mendoza, who enters his second semester as a Cowboy. Joining the squad in January was Trent Botha of South Africa, Leonard Gerch of Germany and Tristan Meraut of France.
Feldman Joins the Coaching Staff
This summer, the Pokes welcomed Nate Feldman to the coaching staff as an assistant coach.
Feldman joins the Cowboys after spending the last three years at Norfolk State, where he coached both the men's and women's tennis squads.
Before taking over at Norfolk State, Feldman gained invaluable coaching experience as an assistant at multiple top-tier programs, including a role with the 2010 North Carolina women's team, which reached the NCAA Semifinals and spent four weeks as the nation's top-ranked team. He helped guide the Middle Tennessee State men's squad to a Sun Belt tournament title, earning him a nomination for the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Assistant Coach of the Year award.
Feldman also served as an ITF travel coach, which took him all over the United States and South America.
ITA Introduces New Dual Match Format
In December, the ITA Division I Operating Committee made changes to the dual match format so that it shortens the length of the match. Changes include:
-No-ad scoring in singles and doubles.
-Three doubles matches played, each match one set to 6, with a tie-break at 6-all.
-Followed (after a 5-minute intermission) by six singles matches, each match 2 out of 3 sets, with tie-breaks at 6-all
-No warm-up with opponents (in doubles and in singles)
Follow Cowboy Tennis
Stay up to date with the Oklahoma State men's tennis team on the following social media sites:
Twitter: @CowboyTennis
Facebook: Oklahoma State Cowboy Tennis
Snapchat: OSUathletics
YouTube: youtube.com/osuathletics
