Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Tennis Set for Busy Weekend in California
March 04, 2015 | Cowboy Tennis
The Basics
OSU's men's tennis team, ranked No. 37, will travel to La Jolla, Calif., for a full weekend of competition. The Cowboys will compete in a doubleheader on Thursday, facing UNLV at 1 p.m. CT and Villanova at 3:30 p.m. The Pokes will also compete in the Pacific Coast Doubles tournament, starting Thursday.
Keep Up with the Matches
Fans can follow all the action this weekend through updates on Twitter by following @CowboyTennis. Brackets and results for the doubles tournament are available at tennislink.utsa.com.
In the ITA Rankings
The Cowboys enter the weekend ranked No. 37 in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. Neither UNLV nor Villanova are ranked by ITA.
Two OSU players remain in the ITA singles rankings with sophomore All-American Arjun Kadhe sitting at No. 113, and senior All-American Jakob Sude moving to No. 92. None of the Cowboys' opponents are ranked in singles.
Kadhe and Sude enter the weekend cemented as the 17th-ranked doubles team in the nation.
Pacific Coasts Doubles Tournament
Following Thursday's doubleheader, the Cowboys will compete at the 126th Annual Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship. The event will run from March 5-8 and features a 128-team bracket. The Pokes will have four teams compete.
Last Time Out
The last time out for the Cowboys featured a weekend of duals as the Cowboys hosted No. 47 Tulsa at the Greenwood Tennis Center before traveling to Winston-Salem, N.C., to battle 19th-ranked Wake Forest. OSU split the duals, defeating Tulsa, 4-3, for the first time since 2008, before getting nipped by Wake Forest, 4-3.
No. 19 Wake Forest 4, No. 32 Oklahoma State 3
Feb. 21, 2015 :: Wake Forest Tennis Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Doubles | 1,3,2
1. #50 Mansouri/ Seraphim (WF) def. #10 Sude/ Kadhe (OSU) 6-1
2. Bogaerts/Tabrizi (WF) def. Meraut/Mendoza (OSU) 6-4
3. Ferrigno/Gerch (OSU) def. Bloom/Delcore (WF) 6-3
Singles | Order of finish: 5,4,1,6,2*,3
1. #55 Noah Rubin (WF) def. #88 Jakob Sude (OSU) 6-3, 7-6(3)
2. #14 Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. #87 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) 7-6(2), 7-6(7)
3. Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Skander Mansouri (WF) 6-7(1), 7-6(10), 1-0(2)
4. #57 Jon Ho (WF) def. Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Tristan Meraut (OSU) def. Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-3, 6-4
6. Nicolai Ferrigno (OSU) def. Keivon Tabrizi (WF) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
On A Roll
Sophomore Lucas Gerch is undefeated this spring in singles, boasting a 9-0 record. Gerch plays primarily at the No. 3 spot, but has notched wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. All but three of his wins came in straight sets.
Freshman Trent Botha is also undefeated this spring, making two appearances at the No. 6 spot and one appearance on court five.
Nathan Roper, a sophomore for the Pokes, has competed in three matches, compiling a 1-0 record with two of his matches going unfinished.
Scheduling Tough
The Cowboys have faced seven ranked opponents within their last eight matches. Against those opponents, Oklahoma State is 4-3. Most recently, the Cowboys took down No. 47 Tulsa. The Cowboys also notched a win over No. 17 Tennessee earlier this season.
Cowboys vs. Opponents
The Cowboys look to extend their series lead over UNLV as they currently hold a 7-5 advantage over the Rebels. This weekend will be the first time that the Pokes will face the Villanova Wildcats.
Series History vs. UNLV
Overall series OSU leads, 7-5
First Meeting (1983) OSU 5, UNLV 4
Last Meeting (2013) UNLV 5, OSU 2
Last OSU win (2012) OSU 4, UNLV 3
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.
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 match2 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
