Cowboys Outlasts Georgia State, 4-3

Friday, February 19

Stillwater, OK

5:00 P.M.

Oklahoma State University

Georgia State

February 19, 2016 | Cowboy Tennis

STILLWATER - In their first outdoor match of the year, the Cowboy Tennis squad (9-1; 0-0 Big 12) got their fifth-straight win on Friday at the Greenwood Tennis Center with a 4-3 victory over Georgia State (4-3; 0-0 Sun Belt).

With the victory, the Cowboys move to 9-1 on the season and remain undefeated at home this year with a 6-0 record at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

"Tonight was a tough match," coach Jay Udwadia said. "Georgia State came ready to play and it got tight at the end, but it was nice to see Jurence (Mendoza) clinch the match."

In doubles play, No. 5-ranked Arjun Kadhe/Julian Cash came out ready to play as they defeated Georgia State's No. 1 duo Sebastian Acuna/Andrei Andrukhov, 6-3, to put the Pokes one match win closer to the doubles point.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys, Georgia State would answer the initial OSU victory with one on court two. Panther duo Zackery Kennedy/Jack MacFarlane would defeat No. 48-ranked Temur Ismailov/Lucas Gerch, 6-4.

After splitting the matches on one and two, it all came down to court three where Georgia State's Jannis Koeke/Joseph Bishop forced a tiebreak for the doubles point, as Tristan Meraut/Mateo Ruiz made their Cowboy debut in doubles.

In a back-and-forth affair, Koeke/Bishop would prevail over the Cowboy duo to take the doubles point and a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

"I think we needed to do a better job of playing with more energy today because we can't rely on catching up at the end each time," Udwadia said.

Before the start of singles play, Cowgirl Tennis head coach Chris Young honored coach Udwadia with a ceremonial plaque for becoming the only the second coach in Cowboy Tennis history to get their 200^th career win at OSU.

"It means that I'm getting older," Udwadia said. "I've had some really great players play for me in my time, so it's really all about the team because at the end of the day I just want the team to win."

Trailing after doubles for only the second time this season, Oklahoma State wouldn't need much time to comeback with Meraut swinging the momentum back in the Cowboys favor with his straight-set win on court three over Acuna, 6-3, 6-0.

Shortly after knotting it back at one, Ismailov put the Pokes back on top with another straight-set victory this time over Koeke, 6-2, 6-4.

After scoring back-to-back points, Oklahoma State was hungry for more and Finzelberg would deliver another point to the Cowboys with an impressive comeback victory over Andrukhov, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, to put OSU up 3-1.

With the Pokes one point away from victory, Georgia State wouldn't go quietly as Kennedy won a tiebreaker in the third set over No. 111-ranked Arjun Kadhe to put the Panthers back within reach.

Looking to courts five and six, the Cowboys needed No. 93-ranked Jurence Mendoza or Nathan Roper to close out their match to seal the victory.

Good thing for the Pokes, Mendoza would step up to the plate. The sophomore entered the day 2-0 in singles this spring and would extend his undefeated record to three with an heroic three set win over MacFarlane, 7-6(2), 2-6, 7-5, to clinch the match for OSU.

Meanwhile on court six, Roper got into a tiebreaker for the third set, but would fall to Felipe Jawoski, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(6).

"At the end of the day, we got a win over a very good team with some struggle and it was nice to see the team get through it," Udwadia said.

With already nine wins on the year, the Cowboys will look for number 10 when they head to the Blue Gray Invitational on Feb. 26-27 in Birmingham, Alabama.

For more updates on the Pokes, follow @CowboyTennis on Instagram and Twitter.

No. 15 Oklahoma State def. Georgia State, 4-3

February 19, 2016 | Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater, Oklahoma

Doubles | Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

C1: No. 5 Kadhe/Cash (OSU) def. Acuna/Andrukhov (GSU), 6-3
C2: Kennedy/MacFarlane (GSU) def. No. 48 Ismailov/Gerch, 4-6
C3: Koeke/Bishop (GSU) def. Meraut/Ruiz (OSU) 6-7 (7-5)

Singles | Order of Finish: 3, 1, 4, 2, 5*, 6

C1: Temur Ismailov (OSU) def. Jannis Koeke (GSU), 6-2, 6-4
C2: Zackery Kennedy (GSU) def. No. 111 Arjun Kadhe (OSU), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
C3: Tristan Meraut (OSU) def. Sebastian Acuna (GSU), 6-3, 6-0
C4: Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) def. Andrei Andrukhov (GSU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
C5: No. 93 Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Jack MacFarlane (GSU), 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-5
C6: Felipe Jawoski (GSU) def. Nathan Roper (OSU), 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (6)