Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Tennis Season Review
June 12, 2015 | Cowboy Tennis
The Oklahoma State men's tennis team has shown to be a program on the rise and this year proved it even more as the Cowboys were a squad that was consistently in the top 30 and played at a high level all season under the direction of head coach Jay Udwadia and first-year assistant coach Nate Feldman.The Pokes gained experience in the fall portion of the season, competing in five tournaments all over the country. One weekend saw the Cowboys to 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 of Oral Roberts University. All-American and senior Jakob Sude competed in only two events in the fall: ITA All-American Championship and ITA Central Region Championship.
The Cowboys' depth was the greatest it had been in recent years. Jurence Mendoza joined the Cowboys in August from the Philippines. In January, the Pokes added three more players in Tristan Meraut of France, Trent Botha of South Africa and Leonard Gerch of Germany.
The lineup was a key part in the Cowboys' strong start to the season. OSU knocked over 15 of its first 18 opponents. Of those 15 wins, eight came over ranked opponents, including a dominant 4-1 win over then-No. 17 Tennessee. It was the second-straight year that the Cowboys topped the high-caliber program.
The Cowboys began the match with a tough win in doubles. The competition was neck and neck as all courts were tied, 5-5, at one point. Victories emerged from Jakob Sude and Arjun Kadhe and Tristan Meraut and Lucas Gerch on courts one and three, respectively. Lucas Gerch earned a win in singles as well as Nicolai Ferrigno. Kadhe sealed the win for the Cowboys with a strong comeback performance. The All-American dropped his first set to Hunter Reese, 6-3, but quickly responded, dominating the Volunteer in the next two sets, 6-1, 6-0.
Another notable win came over the 43rd-ranked Tulsa in a 4-3 decision. It was the first time the Pokes tallied a win against the Golden Hurricane since 2010. The Pokes went on to defeat five more top-50 schools throughout the season. Overall, the Pokes took out 10 ranked opponents.
During the first half of the season, Udwadia and the squad traveled to La Jolla, Calif., to compete in the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship as well as a pair of duals. At the 126-year-old tournament, OSU recorded its first Pacific Coast Champions in Lucas Gerch and Ferrigno. In the semifinals, the two Cowboys faced the Bacharach/McKelvie team of Davis. With a dominant 6-3, 6-1 win over the Davis duo, Ferrigno and Gerch advanced to the finals, where they met up with top-seeded Thibault Forget and Roberto Quiroz of USC. In the finals, the OSU tandem produced another straight-set victory, taking the championship title with a 6-3, 6-4 win. They joined names like Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe and Peter Fleming as Pacific Coast Champions.
In late-March, conference play began for Cowboys, who were competing in the nation's toughest men's tennis conference. At one point, all six Big 12 teams were ranked in the top 25. OSU was not able to notch a conference win, but the Pokes showed that they could play up to the league's level.
In their Big 12 opener, the Cowboys suffered a 4-3 heartbreaker against No. 7 Texas in Stillwater. The Longhorns barely snatched the doubles point, giving them an advantage going to singles. Meraut injury defaulted his match on court four and Texas claimed another victory, allowing UT to go up 3-0. But the Cowboys' fight was far from over.
Sude, who was ranked No. 87 in the nation, stunned the nation's top-ranked player Soren Hess-Olesen on court one in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. He was followed by a three-set win from Lukas Finzelberg on court five and an upset from Lucas Gerch over No. 37 Lloyd Glasspool to tie the team score, 3-3. It came down to court six, where Ferrigno and Clement Homs went to three sets. Ferrigno recovered after losing the first set and forced a third. During a competitive third set, the two exchanged games, but Homs eventually pulled away, sealing the win for Texas.
The Pokes kept close matches with No. 10 TCU and No. 23 Texas Tech in conference play. In their final regular season match, the Cowboys took on No. 1 Oklahoma, where they earned a tough doubles point as No. 33 Sude and Kadhe sealed the doubles point with a 6-3 win over No. 8 Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb.
The next weekend, OSU traveled to Waco, Texas, for the Big 12 Championships. They were pitted against then-No. 7 TCU in the first match. With only singles contested, the Pokes fell in a 4-0 contest and went home to await their NCAA fate.
For the first time since the 2008 and 2009 seasons, OSU made back-to-back NCAA appearances as the squad was chosen as a No. 2 seed in the Texas A&M regional. It was OSU's 19th overall appearance. The Cowboys faced No. 38 New Mexico in the first round, who they defeated in a highly-contested 4-0 match. They went on to meet No. 6 and host Texas A&M. The Pokes fought hard, earning another stunning doubles win to take a 1-0 advantage; however, it was not enough as the Aggies pulled out a 4-2 win.
As a team, the Pokes finished ranked No. 29 in the nation with a 17-10 overall record and a solid 10-2 home record.
Individually, the Cowboys had excellent finishes.
Sude was selected to the NCAA Championships in singles and doubles. He achieved All-American status in both events, making him only the second player in program history to earn singles and doubles All-America honors. He was also the first Cowboy to reach All-America status in singles since 2010. To get there, Sude took out No. 95 Daniel Leitner of South Alabama in three sets in the round of 64. Waiting for him in the round of 32 was TCU freshman and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Guillermo Nunez. The Cowboy cruised his way through the match, defeating the Horned Frog, 6-0, 6-3, and sealing All-America honors. He made it to the round of 16 at NCAAs, where he fell to No. 9 Quentin Monaghan of Notre Dame to finish out his first NCAA singles tournament. Sude wrapped up the season ranked No. 36.
In the doubles tournament, Sude teamed up with Kadhe for their second-consecutive NCAA appearance. The duo became the first Cowboy doubles team to earn two All-America honors, when they defeated Auburn's 21st-ranked Krickovic/Ollert team in the round of 16. The match was one that exhibited the Cowboys' heart as the duo fell in the first set 6-4. Sude and Kadhe battled back against the Tigers to take the second set 6-3. The match was forced to a third and final set where the Cowboys outlasted Auburn in an exciting 10 games. The OSU team broke Krickovic and Ollert at 3-3 to take the lead. They held serve to go up 5-3, but Auburn responded with a hold of its own, bringing the match to 5-4. Kadhe served out the match in an incredible game that saw the Cowboys save two break points and the Tigers save two match points.
The duo fell in the quarterfinals to No. 19 Hess-Olesen/Glasspool of Texas in straight sets. Sude and Kadhe finished the season as the 18th best duo in the country.
Five Cowboys received Big 12 honors as well. Sude was named to the All-Big 12 singles team for the second year in a row. Academically, Sude was selected to the All-Big 12 Academic Second Team, while Ferrigno, Finzelberg, Gerch and Kadhe were first team selections.
Wrapping up their collegiate careers was Ferrigno and Sude. Both played for the Pokes for two years and made immediate and lasting impacts to the Cowboy Tennis program.
"It was a fun year that was full of intensity," Udwadia said. "We played and competed at a very high level. I saw a lot of improvement from several of our players individually. We gained valuable experience for our returning players, and I'm really excited for the future. I look forward to building onto our program and graduating players with great character."
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 of Oral Roberts University. All-American and senior Jakob Sude competed in only two events in the fall: ITA All-American Championship and ITA Central Region Championship.
The Cowboys' depth was the greatest it had been in recent years. Jurence Mendoza joined the Cowboys in August from the Philippines. In January, the Pokes added three more players in Tristan Meraut of France, Trent Botha of South Africa and Leonard Gerch of Germany.
The lineup was a key part in the Cowboys' strong start to the season. OSU knocked over 15 of its first 18 opponents. Of those 15 wins, eight came over ranked opponents, including a dominant 4-1 win over then-No. 17 Tennessee. It was the second-straight year that the Cowboys topped the high-caliber program.
The Cowboys began the match with a tough win in doubles. The competition was neck and neck as all courts were tied, 5-5, at one point. Victories emerged from Jakob Sude and Arjun Kadhe and Tristan Meraut and Lucas Gerch on courts one and three, respectively. Lucas Gerch earned a win in singles as well as Nicolai Ferrigno. Kadhe sealed the win for the Cowboys with a strong comeback performance. The All-American dropped his first set to Hunter Reese, 6-3, but quickly responded, dominating the Volunteer in the next two sets, 6-1, 6-0.
Another notable win came over the 43rd-ranked Tulsa in a 4-3 decision. It was the first time the Pokes tallied a win against the Golden Hurricane since 2010. The Pokes went on to defeat five more top-50 schools throughout the season. Overall, the Pokes took out 10 ranked opponents.
During the first half of the season, Udwadia and the squad traveled to La Jolla, Calif., to compete in the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship as well as a pair of duals. At the 126-year-old tournament, OSU recorded its first Pacific Coast Champions in Lucas Gerch and Ferrigno. In the semifinals, the two Cowboys faced the Bacharach/McKelvie team of Davis. With a dominant 6-3, 6-1 win over the Davis duo, Ferrigno and Gerch advanced to the finals, where they met up with top-seeded Thibault Forget and Roberto Quiroz of USC. In the finals, the OSU tandem produced another straight-set victory, taking the championship title with a 6-3, 6-4 win. They joined names like Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe and Peter Fleming as Pacific Coast Champions.
In late-March, conference play began for Cowboys, who were competing in the nation's toughest men's tennis conference. At one point, all six Big 12 teams were ranked in the top 25. OSU was not able to notch a conference win, but the Pokes showed that they could play up to the league's level.
In their Big 12 opener, the Cowboys suffered a 4-3 heartbreaker against No. 7 Texas in Stillwater. The Longhorns barely snatched the doubles point, giving them an advantage going to singles. Meraut injury defaulted his match on court four and Texas claimed another victory, allowing UT to go up 3-0. But the Cowboys' fight was far from over.
Sude, who was ranked No. 87 in the nation, stunned the nation's top-ranked player Soren Hess-Olesen on court one in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. He was followed by a three-set win from Lukas Finzelberg on court five and an upset from Lucas Gerch over No. 37 Lloyd Glasspool to tie the team score, 3-3. It came down to court six, where Ferrigno and Clement Homs went to three sets. Ferrigno recovered after losing the first set and forced a third. During a competitive third set, the two exchanged games, but Homs eventually pulled away, sealing the win for Texas.
The Pokes kept close matches with No. 10 TCU and No. 23 Texas Tech in conference play. In their final regular season match, the Cowboys took on No. 1 Oklahoma, where they earned a tough doubles point as No. 33 Sude and Kadhe sealed the doubles point with a 6-3 win over No. 8 Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb.
The next weekend, OSU traveled to Waco, Texas, for the Big 12 Championships. They were pitted against then-No. 7 TCU in the first match. With only singles contested, the Pokes fell in a 4-0 contest and went home to await their NCAA fate.
For the first time since the 2008 and 2009 seasons, OSU made back-to-back NCAA appearances as the squad was chosen as a No. 2 seed in the Texas A&M regional. It was OSU's 19th overall appearance. The Cowboys faced No. 38 New Mexico in the first round, who they defeated in a highly-contested 4-0 match. They went on to meet No. 6 and host Texas A&M. The Pokes fought hard, earning another stunning doubles win to take a 1-0 advantage; however, it was not enough as the Aggies pulled out a 4-2 win.
As a team, the Pokes finished ranked No. 29 in the nation with a 17-10 overall record and a solid 10-2 home record.
Individually, the Cowboys had excellent finishes.
Sude was selected to the NCAA Championships in singles and doubles. He achieved All-American status in both events, making him only the second player in program history to earn singles and doubles All-America honors. He was also the first Cowboy to reach All-America status in singles since 2010. To get there, Sude took out No. 95 Daniel Leitner of South Alabama in three sets in the round of 64. Waiting for him in the round of 32 was TCU freshman and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Guillermo Nunez. The Cowboy cruised his way through the match, defeating the Horned Frog, 6-0, 6-3, and sealing All-America honors. He made it to the round of 16 at NCAAs, where he fell to No. 9 Quentin Monaghan of Notre Dame to finish out his first NCAA singles tournament. Sude wrapped up the season ranked No. 36.
In the doubles tournament, Sude teamed up with Kadhe for their second-consecutive NCAA appearance. The duo became the first Cowboy doubles team to earn two All-America honors, when they defeated Auburn's 21st-ranked Krickovic/Ollert team in the round of 16. The match was one that exhibited the Cowboys' heart as the duo fell in the first set 6-4. Sude and Kadhe battled back against the Tigers to take the second set 6-3. The match was forced to a third and final set where the Cowboys outlasted Auburn in an exciting 10 games. The OSU team broke Krickovic and Ollert at 3-3 to take the lead. They held serve to go up 5-3, but Auburn responded with a hold of its own, bringing the match to 5-4. Kadhe served out the match in an incredible game that saw the Cowboys save two break points and the Tigers save two match points.
The duo fell in the quarterfinals to No. 19 Hess-Olesen/Glasspool of Texas in straight sets. Sude and Kadhe finished the season as the 18th best duo in the country.
Five Cowboys received Big 12 honors as well. Sude was named to the All-Big 12 singles team for the second year in a row. Academically, Sude was selected to the All-Big 12 Academic Second Team, while Ferrigno, Finzelberg, Gerch and Kadhe were first team selections.
Wrapping up their collegiate careers was Ferrigno and Sude. Both played for the Pokes for two years and made immediate and lasting impacts to the Cowboy Tennis program.
"It was a fun year that was full of intensity," Udwadia said. "We played and competed at a very high level. I saw a lot of improvement from several of our players individually. We gained valuable experience for our returning players, and I'm really excited for the future. I look forward to building onto our program and graduating players with great character."
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