Cowboys Ready For Top-25 Showdown With Tulsa

Notes vs. Tulsa

The Basics
Looking to keep their perfect road record alive, the Cowboys head to Tulsa, Oklahoma to take on in-state rival No. 24 Tulsa on Friday at 5 p.m. CT. The top-25 showdown will be played at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

Follow the Match Live
Live scoring will be available on the men's tennis page at tulsahurricane.com. Here's the direct link: http://streamingtennis.com/Tulsa/. A live stream will also be featured on the live scoring page.

In the ITA Rankings
For the sixth-straight week, the Oklahoma State men's tennis squad remains in the top 10 of the Oracle/ITA Rankings at No. 8.

All-American Julian Cash highlights the singles poll for the Cowboys, sitting in the top 50 at No. 48. Arjun Kadhe checks in for the Pokes at No. 121, while Temur Ismailov makes his second appearance in the singles poll at No. 118.

Two OSU duos are featured in the doubles rankings as Kadhe/Cash remain in the top 15 for the 12th consecutive week at No. 9. Cowboys Lucas Gerch/Temur Ismailov are back in the doubles poll at No. 71.

Coach Udwadia Records 200th Career Victory
Oklahoma State's victory against No. 32 Harvard was a special one for Cowboy head coach Jay Udwadia as he collected his 200th career win. Udwadia becomes only the second coach in Cowboy history to record his 200th win with OSU, the only other coach was Cowboy legend James Wadley.

Cowgirl Tennis head coach Chris Young honored Udwadia in the Cowboys' home match against Georgia State. Young presented a celebratory plaque to Udwadia during the intermission between doubles and singles play.

When he arrived at OSU, Udwadia had 145 career wins with stops at Drake and Fresno State where he turned both programs into yearly conference title contenders. At Fresno State, Udwadia reached the conference finals six of his eight years, winning the title in 2011 and 2012.

The New York native is also only the second coach in Cowboy Tennis history to collect more than 50 wins in his first three seasons, as he won 51 games before entering this season.

After back-to-back NCAA Second Round appearances, the future looks bright for coach Udwadia and the Oklahoma State men's tennis program.

Cowboys vs. Opponent
OSU will face in-state rival Tulsa for the 55th time in program history on Friday as the Pokes lead the all-time series by a wide margin, 41-13. In recent history, Tulsa won four-straight matches against the Cowboys from 2011-2014 before OSU won a 4-3 thriller at the Greenwood Tennis Center last season.

Series History vs. Tulsa
                             Tulsa
   Overall series:     Cowboys lead 41-13
   First meeting:      OSU lost 7-0 (1971)
   Last meeting:       OSU won 4-3 (2015)
   Last OSU win:     2015

Big 12: Strongest in the Nation
The Big 12 conference continues to be one of the most talented leagues in the nation with five of six teams staying in the top 25. Two teams (TCU & OSU) remain in the top 10.

Spring Season Is Gerch's Time To Shine
OSU's Lucas Gerch continues to dominate this spring as he is currently riding a nine match winning streak in singles.

A hot start in the spring isn't uncommon for the German as he won 14 of 15 singles matches to begin the spring last season and is off to another great start this spring, sitting at 12-2 in singles.

Gerch has also played well in doubles with partners Temur Ismailov and Tristan Meraut. Ismailov/Gerch, ranked No. 71, have compiled a 12-3 record this season and reached the round of 16 at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship in La Jolla, California. Gerch/Meraut have also helped the Cowboys take two key doubles points against No. 47 Iowa in Stillwater and No. 71 Pepperdine in Malibu, California.

Last Time Out
After a tough loss to SMU, the Cowboys got back on track against Oral Roberts.

The doubles point looked to be in the favor of OSU early with All-American duo Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe shutting out ORU's Jan Pehnec/Kenneth Boykin, 6-0. Both remaining Cowboy duos led on their respective courts, but the Golden Eagles would make a surge as they ended up winning those two matches to steal the doubles point from the Pokes.

Needing to win four of six singles matches, the Cowboys came out on a mission with all six Pokes taking the first set. OSU's Lucas Gerch, Nathan Roper and Jurence Mendoza would win in straight-sets, setting it up for Kadhe to secure the victory on court two.

No. 5 Oklahoma State def. Oral Roberts, 4-1

Doubles | Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*
C1: No. 9 Kadhe/Cash (OSU) def. Pehnec/Boykin (ORU), 6-0
C2: Koncz/Saletovic (ORU) def. Gerch/Meraut (OSU), 6-4
C3: Sosnowski/Bates (ORU) def. Finzelberg/Mendoza (OSU), 6-4

Singles | Order of Finish: 3, 6, 5, 2
C1: No. 48 Julian Cash (OSU) vs. Barnabas Koncz (ORU), 6-4, 4-2 unf.
C2: No. 121 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Jan Pehnec (ORU), 6-1, 6-4
C3: Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Amar Saletovic (ORU), 6-0, 6-0
C4: Tristan Meraut (OSU) vs. Kenneth Boykin (ORU), 6-4, 4-3 unf.
C5: Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Michael Sosnowski (ORU), 6-0, 6-4
C6: Nathan Roper (OSU) def. Alvaro Santamaria (ORU), 6-0, 6-1

The Finz-isher
Cowboy Lukas Finzelberg has proven to be one of the key players for the Pokes thus far as he currently sits at 11-1 in singles.

The sophomore has finished off four matches for the Pokes this season, each one coming against a ranked opponent. Finzelberg closed out the Cowboys' biggest win of the year against No. 11 Wake Forest at the Greenwood Tennis Center in late January. He split the first two sets against Wake Forest's Christian Seraphim before grinding out a hard-earned three set victory to give the Cowboys their first win against a top 15 opponent since 2014.

The German wouldn't wait long to clinch another match as he capped off the weekend by securing the win against No. 22 Minnesota just two days later.

With the Cowboys about to enter conference play next month, Finzelberg looks to continue being a force for the Pokes.

All-American's Kadhe/Cash Win Pacific Coast Doubles Title
For the second consecutive year a Cowboy duo won the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship.

Arjun Kadhe/Julian Cash, ranked No. 9, joined the likes of Arthur Ashe and John McEnroe by winning the prestigious title. The All-American duo won seven doubles matches in three days, including a victory over Stanford's Fawcett/Romanwicz in the final.

Kadhe/Cash have now been crowned doubles champs twice this season with the other one coming in October at the ITA All-American Championships.

Kadhe Seeks Third-Straight All-American Honor
Last season, Kadhe and Jakob Sude were the first Cowboy doubles team in Oklahoma State history to earn back-to-back All-American honors.

Kadhe looks to become only the third Cowboy in OSU history to earn three All-American honors. The two Cowboys with three All-American honors are Oleksandr Nedovyesov (2008-2010) and Sude (2014-15).

He will have a good chance at completing the task, as Kadhe and his new doubles partner Julian Cash have developed a great connection on the court together, which helped them earn the third-highest doubles ranking in program history at No. 5.

Follow Cowboy Tennis
Stay up to date with the Oklahoma State men's tennis team on the following social media sites:
Twitter: @CowboyTennis
Instagram: @CowboyTennis
Facebook: Oklahoma State Cowboy Tennis
Snapchat: OSUathletics
YouTube: youtube.com/osuathletics

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Players Mentioned

Julian Cash

Lukas Finzelberg

Lucas Gerch

Temur Ismailov

Arjun Kadhe

Jurence Mendoza

Tristan Meraut

Nathan Roper

Jakob Sude

Oklahoma State University Athletics