Oklahoma State University Athletics
Friday, January 15
Stillwater, OK
2:30 P.M.
Oklahoma State University
7
vs
0
UNLV
Cowboys Beat UNLV, Creighton In Spring Opener
January 15, 2016 | Cowboy Tennis
STILLWATER, OK – Oklahoma State's men's tennis squad took care of business at the Greenwood Tennis Center on Friday with 11 straight-set singles victories leading to back-to-back 7-0 wins over UNLV and Creighton to open up the spring season.
"Today was a positive day, as we got a couple wins," coach Jay Udwadia said. "I thought both teams gave us a great test and I think we're playing at a good level right now and that's exactly what we need."
In the first match of the day against UNLV, the Cowboys come out of the gate strong by winning the doubles point. New Poke Temur Ismailov and his doubles partner Lucas Gerch were the first Cowboy duo to win in doubles as they made quick work of UNLV's Alexandr Cozbinov/Richard Solberg, 6-1.
No. 9-ranked All-American duo Arjun Kadhe/Julian Cash needed an extra game, but would take care of Amilon/Alberts 7-5 to secure the doubles point.
The singles portion was where Oklahoma State really shined, as each Cowboy won their match in straight-sets.
Shortly after No. 112 Kadhe put the Cowboys up 2-0 in the match, Poke Lukas Finzelberg dominated on court six to win his match, 6-2, 6-4, and put the Cowboys up 3-0.
Oklahoma State's Gerch clinched the Cowboys first victory of the year on court four. The junior won 10 of the final 11 games in the match to win, 6-3, 6-1, and give the Cowboys a 4-0 lead.
The match of the day came on court two with Rebel Cozbinov and Cowboy Ismailov. In the first set, Ismailov held his own as he took the set, 6-3. The second was a good one with both players exchanging each game in the set, which lead to a second-set tiebreak.
Cozbinov came out hot in the tiebreaker by taking a 3-0 lead to start, but Ismailov battled back to tie it up and eventually win the tiebreak 8-6 to wrap up the shutout and lead the Cowboys to a 7-0 victory over UNLV.
The second match of the day against Creighton would begin just like the one before it. The Cowboys took the doubles point quickly as Kadhe/Cash set the tone with a 6-1 statement win over Creighton's Quinn Dippel/Jake Glazer.
"I think the big thing for us is that we just focus one match and one point at a time, which helps a lot," Kadhe said.
January enrollee Mateo Ruiz Naranjo and doubles partner Jurence Mendoza would conclude the doubles part of the match with a 6-1 victory on court two.
In singles play, Ismailov was at the No. 1 spot for the first time in his Cowboy career and showed he deserved to be there with a great performance against Creighton's Dippel, winning, 6-2, 6-1.
"In his first match he came out with a few cobwebs, but I think you saw in the second match that Temur played a lot more relaxed and a lot cleaner," coach Jay Udwadia said.
After straight-set victory from No. 85 Mendoza, the Cowboys led 3-0 and Edmond, Oklahoma, native Nathan Roper had a chance to seal the match for the Pokes. The junior wouldn't shy away from the challenge as he took down Glazer, 6-2, 6-3, and wrapped up the Cowboys second victory of the day.
Oklahoma State's Tristan Meraut and Gerch followed Roper's victory to put the Cowboy lead at 6-0 with a chance for the freshman Ruiz to keep the shutout alive. The Colombia native won the first set 6-3, but would fall in the second set to Creighton's Aaron Chalstrom 6-4, which sent the match into a third set tiebreaker.
With a shutout on the line in front of his home crowd, Ruiz showed no nerves as he won 10 of 12 points in the tiebreaker to win his first career singles match as a Cowboy, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2).
"I thought Mateo played his best tennis in that tiebreaker and that's what you always want to see as a coach and as the match went on he played more aggressive," coach Jay Udwaida said.
Two-time All-American Kadhe put into words how much the crowd helped motivate the Cowboys in both of their matches on Friday.
"It was amazing, especially the POSSE girls because they help out a lot and also we would love to thank the people that came out and cheered for us."
The Cowboys next stop will be in Memphis, Tennessee, as the Cowboys are set to play the Memphis Tigers on Monday. For updates and everything Cowboy Tennis, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
Oklahoma State vs. UNLV | January 15, 2016
Doubles: Order of Finish - 2, 1
Court 2: Ismailov/Gerch (OSU) def. Cozbinov/Solberg (UNLV), 6-1
Court 1: No. 9 Kadhe/Cash (OSU) def. Amilon/Alberts (UNLV), 7-5
Court 3: No. 53 Finzelberg/Mendoza (OSU) vs. Gage-Brown/Neto (UNLV), 6-6 (4-2) (Unfinished)
Singles: Order of Finish - 1, 6, 4, 3, 5, 2
Court 1: No. 112 Kadhe (OSU) def. Amilon (UNLV), 6-3, 6-2
Court 6: Finzelberg (OSU) def. Neto (UNLV), 6-2, 6-4
Court 4: Gerch (OSU) def. Alberts (UNLV), 6-3, 6-1
Court 3: No. 68 Cash (OSU) def. Gage-Brown (UNLV), 6-2, 6-3
Court 5: Meraut (OSU) def. Solberg (UNLV), 6-1, 7-5
Court 2: Ismailov (OSU) def. Cozbinov (UNLV), 6-3, 7-6 (6)
Oklahoma State vs. Creighton | January 15, 2016
Doubles: Order of Finish - 1, 2
Court 1: No. 9 Kadhe/Cash (OSU) def. Dippel/Glazer (CRE), 6-1
Court 2: Ruiz/Mendoza (OSU) def. Thompson/Nysted (CRE), 6-1
Court 3: Roper/Meraut (OSU) def. Kendall/Lang (CRE), 4-2 (Unfinished)
Singles: Order of Finish - 1, 4, 6, 3, 2, 5
Court 1: Ismailov (OSU) def. Dippel (CRE), 6-2, 6-1
Court 4: No. 85 Mendoza (OSU) def. Kendall (CRE), 6-2, 6-2
Court 6: Roper (OSU) def. Glazer (CRE), 6-2, 6-3
Court 3: Meraut (OSU) def. Lang (CRE), 7-5, 6-0
Court 2: Gerch (OSU) def. Koca (CRE), 6-4, 6-2
Court 5: Ruiz (OSU) def. Chalstrom (CRE), 6-3, 4-6, 10-2
"Today was a positive day, as we got a couple wins," coach Jay Udwadia said. "I thought both teams gave us a great test and I think we're playing at a good level right now and that's exactly what we need."
In the first match of the day against UNLV, the Cowboys come out of the gate strong by winning the doubles point. New Poke Temur Ismailov and his doubles partner Lucas Gerch were the first Cowboy duo to win in doubles as they made quick work of UNLV's Alexandr Cozbinov/Richard Solberg, 6-1.
No. 9-ranked All-American duo Arjun Kadhe/Julian Cash needed an extra game, but would take care of Amilon/Alberts 7-5 to secure the doubles point.
The singles portion was where Oklahoma State really shined, as each Cowboy won their match in straight-sets.
Shortly after No. 112 Kadhe put the Cowboys up 2-0 in the match, Poke Lukas Finzelberg dominated on court six to win his match, 6-2, 6-4, and put the Cowboys up 3-0.
Oklahoma State's Gerch clinched the Cowboys first victory of the year on court four. The junior won 10 of the final 11 games in the match to win, 6-3, 6-1, and give the Cowboys a 4-0 lead.
The match of the day came on court two with Rebel Cozbinov and Cowboy Ismailov. In the first set, Ismailov held his own as he took the set, 6-3. The second was a good one with both players exchanging each game in the set, which lead to a second-set tiebreak.
Cozbinov came out hot in the tiebreaker by taking a 3-0 lead to start, but Ismailov battled back to tie it up and eventually win the tiebreak 8-6 to wrap up the shutout and lead the Cowboys to a 7-0 victory over UNLV.
The second match of the day against Creighton would begin just like the one before it. The Cowboys took the doubles point quickly as Kadhe/Cash set the tone with a 6-1 statement win over Creighton's Quinn Dippel/Jake Glazer.
"I think the big thing for us is that we just focus one match and one point at a time, which helps a lot," Kadhe said.
January enrollee Mateo Ruiz Naranjo and doubles partner Jurence Mendoza would conclude the doubles part of the match with a 6-1 victory on court two.
In singles play, Ismailov was at the No. 1 spot for the first time in his Cowboy career and showed he deserved to be there with a great performance against Creighton's Dippel, winning, 6-2, 6-1.
"In his first match he came out with a few cobwebs, but I think you saw in the second match that Temur played a lot more relaxed and a lot cleaner," coach Jay Udwadia said.
After straight-set victory from No. 85 Mendoza, the Cowboys led 3-0 and Edmond, Oklahoma, native Nathan Roper had a chance to seal the match for the Pokes. The junior wouldn't shy away from the challenge as he took down Glazer, 6-2, 6-3, and wrapped up the Cowboys second victory of the day.
Oklahoma State's Tristan Meraut and Gerch followed Roper's victory to put the Cowboy lead at 6-0 with a chance for the freshman Ruiz to keep the shutout alive. The Colombia native won the first set 6-3, but would fall in the second set to Creighton's Aaron Chalstrom 6-4, which sent the match into a third set tiebreaker.
With a shutout on the line in front of his home crowd, Ruiz showed no nerves as he won 10 of 12 points in the tiebreaker to win his first career singles match as a Cowboy, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2).
"I thought Mateo played his best tennis in that tiebreaker and that's what you always want to see as a coach and as the match went on he played more aggressive," coach Jay Udwaida said.
Two-time All-American Kadhe put into words how much the crowd helped motivate the Cowboys in both of their matches on Friday.
"It was amazing, especially the POSSE girls because they help out a lot and also we would love to thank the people that came out and cheered for us."
The Cowboys next stop will be in Memphis, Tennessee, as the Cowboys are set to play the Memphis Tigers on Monday. For updates and everything Cowboy Tennis, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
Oklahoma State vs. UNLV | January 15, 2016
Doubles: Order of Finish - 2, 1
Court 2: Ismailov/Gerch (OSU) def. Cozbinov/Solberg (UNLV), 6-1
Court 1: No. 9 Kadhe/Cash (OSU) def. Amilon/Alberts (UNLV), 7-5
Court 3: No. 53 Finzelberg/Mendoza (OSU) vs. Gage-Brown/Neto (UNLV), 6-6 (4-2) (Unfinished)
Singles: Order of Finish - 1, 6, 4, 3, 5, 2
Court 1: No. 112 Kadhe (OSU) def. Amilon (UNLV), 6-3, 6-2
Court 6: Finzelberg (OSU) def. Neto (UNLV), 6-2, 6-4
Court 4: Gerch (OSU) def. Alberts (UNLV), 6-3, 6-1
Court 3: No. 68 Cash (OSU) def. Gage-Brown (UNLV), 6-2, 6-3
Court 5: Meraut (OSU) def. Solberg (UNLV), 6-1, 7-5
Court 2: Ismailov (OSU) def. Cozbinov (UNLV), 6-3, 7-6 (6)
Oklahoma State vs. Creighton | January 15, 2016
Doubles: Order of Finish - 1, 2
Court 1: No. 9 Kadhe/Cash (OSU) def. Dippel/Glazer (CRE), 6-1
Court 2: Ruiz/Mendoza (OSU) def. Thompson/Nysted (CRE), 6-1
Court 3: Roper/Meraut (OSU) def. Kendall/Lang (CRE), 4-2 (Unfinished)
Singles: Order of Finish - 1, 4, 6, 3, 2, 5
Court 1: Ismailov (OSU) def. Dippel (CRE), 6-2, 6-1
Court 4: No. 85 Mendoza (OSU) def. Kendall (CRE), 6-2, 6-2
Court 6: Roper (OSU) def. Glazer (CRE), 6-2, 6-3
Court 3: Meraut (OSU) def. Lang (CRE), 7-5, 6-0
Court 2: Gerch (OSU) def. Koca (CRE), 6-4, 6-2
Court 5: Ruiz (OSU) def. Chalstrom (CRE), 6-3, 4-6, 10-2
Players Mentioned
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/ Cowboy Tennis
/ Cowboy Tennis
/ Cowboy Tennis
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