Cowboys Set For Texas Two-Step

Notes vs. Texas & TCU

The Basics
The Cowboys are set for the Texas two-step as they start Big 12 play this weekend with matches against No. 17 Texas and No. 2 TCU. OSU takes on the Longhorns at the Polo Tennis & Fitness Club on Friday at 6 p.m. CT, followed by a matchup with No. 2 TCU on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.

Follow the Match Live
Live scoring for the match against Texas will be available on the men's tennis page at texassports.com. Follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter for live updates during the match.
On Sunday, fans can follow the match against TCU live on the live stats page at tcu.statbroadcast.com.

In the ITA Rankings
Oklahoma State checked in at No. 12 in the latest Oracle/ITA Rankings, which were released on Tuesday. The Cowboys have now been inside the top 15 for eight-consecutive weeks.
All-American Julian Cash jumped up three spots to No. 48 in the new singles poll. Two-time All-American Arjun Kadhe remained at No. 121.
In the doubles rankings, Kadhe/Cash continue their historic run as they moved up two spots to No. 7, which marks the 13th-straight week the All-American duo has been inside the top 10. Pokes Lucas Gerch/Temur Ismailov catapulted 10 spots to No. 61.

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
Texas has been in control of the all-time series with OSU as they currently lead 3-25. The Pokes have never won a match in Austin, Texas as they seek their first road win against the Longhorns.
On the other hand, the Cowboys lead the series with TCU, 7-5, but the Horned Frogs have won three of the past four meetings. OSU's last win came in 2014 and it was an historic one. Lucas Gerch proved to be the hero as he clinched the 4-3 win on court four, which snapped a 29-match conference losing streak for the Cowboys.

Series History vs. Texas, TCU
                             Texas                        TCU
   Overall series:     UT leads 25-3         OSU leads 7-5
   First meeting:      OSU lost 8-1 (1975)    OSU won 5-4 (1985)
   Last meeting:       UT won 4-3 (2015)   TCU won 4-0 (2015)
   Last OSU win:     2007                          2014

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. Four teams (TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma & OSU) remain in the top 15.

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 13-2 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.

Last Time Out
Oklahoma State's men's tennis squad dropped its first road match of the season on Friday against No. 24 Tulsa, 4-1, at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
After splitting matches on courts one and two, the doubles point would be decided on court three. With the doubles point on the line, Cowboys Arjun Kadhe/Mateo Ruiz looked to make their doubles debut a memorable one, but couldn't get past Majed Kilani/Carlos Bautista, falling, 6-4.
With a 1-0 edge heading into singles, Tulsa would extend their lead to 3-0 quickly with Pokes Mateo Ruiz and Jurence Mendoza going down in straight-sets. Gerch put the Cowboys on the board with a three-set win on court two before Nathan Roper fell on court six to give the Golden Hurricane a 4-1 victory.

No. 24 Tulsa def. No. 8 Oklahoma State, 4-1

Doubles | Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

C1: Gerch/Mendoza (OSU) def. Kirby/Kellerman (TUL), 6-3
C2: Bechard/McCloskey (TUL) def. Meraut/Roper (OSU), 6-2
C3: Kilani/Bautista (TUL) def. Kadhe/Ruiz (OSU), 6-4

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

C1: No. 121 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) vs. No. 53 Or Ram-Harel (TUL), 4-6, 7-6(4), 4-3 unf.
C2: Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Juan Matias Gonzalez (TUL), 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
C3: Tristan Meraut (OSU) vs. Carlos Bautista (TUL), 7-5, 4-6, 6-6 (1-5) unf.
C4: Majed Kilani (TUL) def. Jurence Mendoza (OSU), 6-4, 6-4
C5: Francois Kellerman (TUL) def. Mateo Ruiz (OSU), 6-1, 6-1
C6: Daniel Santos (TUL) def. Nathan Roper (OSU), 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2

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

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Julian Cash

Lukas Finzelberg

Lucas Gerch

Temur Ismailov

Arjun Kadhe

Jurence Mendoza

Tristan Meraut

Nathan Roper

Jakob Sude

Oklahoma State University Athletics