Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Collect Five Wins On First Day of Regional Championships
October 20, 2016 | Cowboy Tennis
Singles Top Half | Singles Bottom Half | Doubles
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State men's tennis won a collective five matches between singles and doubles competition during the first day of play at the ITA Central Region Championships on Thursday.
OSU is hosting this year's tournament at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center, marking the first time that the Cowboys have hosted the event since the Greenwood Tennis Center opened. The home-court advantage was a great bonus for the Cowboys early on as they collected three quick wins during the morning doubles session.
"It's great for our guys to get to play on the courts that they play and practice on all year long," head coach Jay Udwadia said. "It's great for the crowds too because they get to come out and cheer on their hometown team. It's a bonus for everyone."
The nation's top-ranked doubles tandem of Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe got the day started for the Cowboys in the Round of 32 as they squared off with Iowa's Nils Hallestrand and Jason Kerst.
The pair fell behind in the early goings of the match, but midway through the contest Cash and Kadhe flipped the switch and won a break point to tie the match, and then Cash unleashed an ace to put the Cowboy duo in front of the Hawkeyes, 5-4. Once they had the lead, Cash and Kadhe continued to roll as they were able to ride their newfound momentum to an 8-5 win and secure their spot in tomorrow's Round of 16.
The story was much the same for No. 52-ranked Lucas Gerch and Jurence Mendoza as the pair found themselves in a back-and-forth contest from the start before they were able to pull away late and grab 8-5 win from Ben Wood and Ben Stride of Drake. OSU's third victory came just mere moments after Gerch and Mendoza's as Nathan Roper and Tristan Meraut cruised to an 8-3 win over UMKC's Airam Castellano and Mike Psarros. Both Cowboy tandems now move on to the Round of 16, which is scheduled to be played likely tomorrow evening.
"We are in a very strong region so we just wanted to get off to a good start today, which we did," Udwadia said. "As we go along the matches will get tougher and tougher, but we'll be ready for the challenge."
OSU's fourth doubles tandem, consisting of Lukas Finzelberg and Tristan Meraut, ran into some tough competition in their first contest of the week as Arkansas' Mike Redilicki and Jose Salazar were able to snag an 8-3 win over the Cowboy duo.
Scaglia got a chance to quickly rebound from the loss though as he, along with Roper, competed in the first round of singles play in the afternoon.
Scaglia continued him impressive fall campaign as he cruised through the contest, knocking off UMKC's Mike Psarros in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Roper followed up Scaglia's dominant win with an impressive showing of his own as he rolled through South Dakota State's Gustavo Almeida with a nearly identical scoreline, 6-1, 6-2.
The other six Cowboys on Udwadia's roster are all seeded in the tournament, so they were granted first-round byes on Thursday. They, along with Roper and Scaglia, will take part in tomorrow's action, which begins with the Round of 64. No Cowboy is scheduled to play in singles before 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Friday's schedule will consist of the next two rounds of singles action followed by the doubles Round of 16 after that. The first round of singles play is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Fans can follow all of the action via live stream at okstate.com/watchtennis and results of all matches will be posted on okstate.com throughout the day.
Oklahoma State Results
Doubles - Round of 32:
No. 1 Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Nils Hallestrand/Jason Kerst (IOWA), 8-5
No. 52 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Ben Wood/Ben Stride (DRAKE), 8-5
Tristan Meraut/Nathan Roper (OSU) def. Airam Castellano/Mike Psarros (UMKC), 8-3
Mike Redlicki/Jose Salazar (ARK) def. Lukas Finzelberg/Mathieu Scaglia (OSU), 8-3
Singles - Round of 128:
Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) def. Gustavo Almeida (SDSU), 6-0, 6-1
Nathan Roper (OSU) def. Mike Psarros (UMKC), 6-1, 6-2
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State men's tennis won a collective five matches between singles and doubles competition during the first day of play at the ITA Central Region Championships on Thursday.
OSU is hosting this year's tournament at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center, marking the first time that the Cowboys have hosted the event since the Greenwood Tennis Center opened. The home-court advantage was a great bonus for the Cowboys early on as they collected three quick wins during the morning doubles session.
"It's great for our guys to get to play on the courts that they play and practice on all year long," head coach Jay Udwadia said. "It's great for the crowds too because they get to come out and cheer on their hometown team. It's a bonus for everyone."
The nation's top-ranked doubles tandem of Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe got the day started for the Cowboys in the Round of 32 as they squared off with Iowa's Nils Hallestrand and Jason Kerst.
The pair fell behind in the early goings of the match, but midway through the contest Cash and Kadhe flipped the switch and won a break point to tie the match, and then Cash unleashed an ace to put the Cowboy duo in front of the Hawkeyes, 5-4. Once they had the lead, Cash and Kadhe continued to roll as they were able to ride their newfound momentum to an 8-5 win and secure their spot in tomorrow's Round of 16.
The story was much the same for No. 52-ranked Lucas Gerch and Jurence Mendoza as the pair found themselves in a back-and-forth contest from the start before they were able to pull away late and grab 8-5 win from Ben Wood and Ben Stride of Drake. OSU's third victory came just mere moments after Gerch and Mendoza's as Nathan Roper and Tristan Meraut cruised to an 8-3 win over UMKC's Airam Castellano and Mike Psarros. Both Cowboy tandems now move on to the Round of 16, which is scheduled to be played likely tomorrow evening.
"We are in a very strong region so we just wanted to get off to a good start today, which we did," Udwadia said. "As we go along the matches will get tougher and tougher, but we'll be ready for the challenge."
OSU's fourth doubles tandem, consisting of Lukas Finzelberg and Tristan Meraut, ran into some tough competition in their first contest of the week as Arkansas' Mike Redilicki and Jose Salazar were able to snag an 8-3 win over the Cowboy duo.
Scaglia got a chance to quickly rebound from the loss though as he, along with Roper, competed in the first round of singles play in the afternoon.
Scaglia continued him impressive fall campaign as he cruised through the contest, knocking off UMKC's Mike Psarros in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Roper followed up Scaglia's dominant win with an impressive showing of his own as he rolled through South Dakota State's Gustavo Almeida with a nearly identical scoreline, 6-1, 6-2.
The other six Cowboys on Udwadia's roster are all seeded in the tournament, so they were granted first-round byes on Thursday. They, along with Roper and Scaglia, will take part in tomorrow's action, which begins with the Round of 64. No Cowboy is scheduled to play in singles before 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Friday's schedule will consist of the next two rounds of singles action followed by the doubles Round of 16 after that. The first round of singles play is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Fans can follow all of the action via live stream at okstate.com/watchtennis and results of all matches will be posted on okstate.com throughout the day.
Oklahoma State Results
Doubles - Round of 32:
No. 1 Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Nils Hallestrand/Jason Kerst (IOWA), 8-5
No. 52 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Ben Wood/Ben Stride (DRAKE), 8-5
Tristan Meraut/Nathan Roper (OSU) def. Airam Castellano/Mike Psarros (UMKC), 8-3
Mike Redlicki/Jose Salazar (ARK) def. Lukas Finzelberg/Mathieu Scaglia (OSU), 8-3
Singles - Round of 128:
Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) def. Gustavo Almeida (SDSU), 6-0, 6-1
Nathan Roper (OSU) def. Mike Psarros (UMKC), 6-1, 6-2
Players Mentioned
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