Cowboys Set To Host NCAA Regional

NCAA First & Second Round Notes

The Basics
The Cowboys will take on Bryant in the first round of the NCAA Tennis Championships at 12 p.m. CT on May 14th at the Greenwood Tennis Center. The Pokes enter the tournament as the 16-seed and have now made it to the tournament in three-straight seasons.

Follow the Match Live
Live stats for the match against Bryant will be provided at okstate.statbroadcast.com, while a live stream will also be available at okstate.com/watchtennis.

As always, live updates for each match can be seen on the OSU men's tennis Twitter page (@CowboyTennis).

In the ITA Rankings
Oklahoma State checks in at No. 16 in the latest Oracle/ITA Rankings, which were released on Thursday.

The Cowboys are coming off a tough loss to Baylor in the quarterfinals at the Big 12 Championship in Stillwater.

A new singles poll was released as well and Cowboy Julian Cash remains in the top 60 as he sits at No. 56 in the latest rankings.

Two Cowboys duos are featured in the newest doubles rankings as All-Americans Arjun Kadhe/Cash sit at No. 10. Pokes Lucas Gerch/Temur Ismailov are the other OSU doubles team with a spot in the poll at No. 90.

Cowboys Hosting NCAA Regional For First Time Since 2007
Oklahoma State's men's tennis squad received its third-straight bid to the NCAA Tennis Championships and will host a regional for the first time since 2007, it was announced last Tuesday.

The Cowboys won't be the only OSU team hosting as the Cowgirls also received news that they will be hosting an NCAA Regional as well.

It will be the first time in Greenwood Tennis Center history that both the Cowboys & Cowgirls are hosting an NCAA Regional.

On the women's side, Arkansas, Tulsa and Albany will join the Cowgirls in the regional. Play will begin for the women on Friday at 10 a.m. as Arkansas takes on Tulsa, while OSU and Albany follow the match at 1 p.m. CT.

For the men, Wichita State, Bryant and Arkansas are the other three teams in the Cowboys' regional. The men's side will get started on Saturday with Arkansas and Wichita State going at it at 9 a.m. CT. The Pokes take on Bryant at noon.

Tickets for the Regional are $5, while students can get admitted for $3. For more information & updates on both Stillwater Regionals, visit okstate.com/ncaatennis.

Cash Receives Central Region ITA Player to Watch Award
Oklahoma State's Julian Cash was named the 2015-16 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Region Player to Watch, it was announced on Monday.

To be named a Regional ITA Player to Watch, a player must have been ranked nationally or regionally and be one of the top returning regional players next year.

The sophomore becomes the second Cowboy in program history to earn the award as he joins three-time All-American Oleksandr Nedovyesov who received the honor three times during his career.

Cash collected 18 singles wins and 32 doubles victories with partner Arjun Kadhe. Ranked No. 56, Cash earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors twice, which made him only the third Cowboy in program history to receive the weekly honor multiple times in a season.

Cash & Kadhe Earn Bids To NCAA Singles & Doubles Championship
Oklahoma State's men's tennis squad had two players receive bids to participate in the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles & Doubles Championships.

All-American Julian Cash was selected as one of 50 at-large selections to compete in the 64-player singles tournament, which will take place from May 25-30 at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Cash earns a spot in the singles championship after an incredible season in which he collected 18 total victories between the fall and spring seasons. The sophomore defeated three top-25 opponents in the spring, including a straight-set victory over No. 7-ranked Andre Goransson from California.

For the third straight-season, two-time All-American Arjun Kadhe received an automatic bid to compete with his doubles partner, Cash, in the 32-duo doubles championship. Kadhe/Cash were one of 14 tandems to receive automatic bids to the championship as they spent the entire dual season ranked in the top-10.

Kadhe/Cash, ranked No. 8, finished the regular season with 32 victories in doubles, which included a remarkable spring season where they collected 21 wins and took the 127th Pacific Coast Doubles title with seven victories in three days

Cowboys Potential Second Round Opponents
If the Pokes defeat Bryant in the first round of the tournament they will face the winner of Arkansas vs. Wichita State. OSU played Arkansas earlier this season in Fayetteville and had a dominant showing as they defeated the Razorbacks, 5-2, to take the all-time series lead over the Razorbacks (16-15).

Against the Shockers, the Cowboys have fared well by leading the all-time series 36-17 and have won the past 10 meetings. The last match between the Pokes and Wichita State was last year on senior day at the Greenwood Tennis Center where OSU beat the Shockers, 4-0.

Spring Season Is Gerch's Time To Shine
OSU's Lucas Gerch continues to dominate this spring as he's currently riding a 12-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 15-2 in singles.

Gerch has also played well in doubles with partners Temur Ismailov and Tristan Meraut. Ismailov/Gerch, ranked No. 90, have compiled a 12-3 record this season and reached the round of 16 at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship in La Jolla, California.

Cowboys vs. Opponent
The Pokes will face Bryant for the first time in program history on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tennis Championships. Also, this will be the first time ever the Cowboys have battled a Northeast Conference opponent.

Mendoza Named Big 12 Player of the Week
OSU's Jurence Mendoza became the fourth Cowboy this season to be named Big 12 Player of the Week, the league announced on April 27.

This is the first time Mendoza has received the weekly honor as he put on an incredible performance against Texas Tech and Baylor.

The sophomore clinched the victory over the No. 10 Red Raiders with a three-set win on court five over Connor Curry. He also went undefeated in doubles play on the weekend with partner Lucas Gerch, which helped the Cowboys secure the doubles point in both matches.

Last Time Out
After being moved inside due to inclement weather, singles play would get started for the Cowboys at 10:40 a.m. CT. The Pokes got off to a hot start in singles as four Cowboys took an early lead in the first set, including Tristan Meraut and Jurence Mendoza, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead to start their respective matches.

Baylor battled their way back into the match as they ended up splitting first sets with three going to each team. Lukas Finzelberg, Mendoza and Kadhe were the three Cowboys to win first sets in singles. Mendoza was dominant in the second set to get the Cowboys on the board quickly with an impressive, 6-2, 6-0, victory over Baylor's Tyler Stayer to give the Cowboys a 1-0 edge.

Baylor answered the Cowboy surge by winning three matches in a row to take a 3-1 with two matches remaining. On court three, Gerch made an unbelievable comeback in the third set tiebreak to cut the Baylor lead to 3-2.

Meraut won the second set on court four to keep the Cowboys alive, but the sophomore couldn't get going in the third as he fell to Jimmy Bendeck in three sets, 7-6(8), 6-7(8), 6-4, giving Baylor the 4-2 victory.

The Greenwood Tennis Center Effect
Since being built in 2014, the Greenwood Tennis has provided the Cowboys with a tremendous home advantage as they have won 32 of 40 matches at the beautiful facility.

The Pokes collected 11 home victories this season, including two against top 15 teams in No. 10 Texas Tech & No. 11 Wake Forest. The win against Tech in April was only the second time in Greenwood Tennis Center history that the Cowboys defeated a top 10 opponent at home.

Also, the Greenwood Tennis Center made its Big 12 Championship debut this season as OSU hosted both the Big 12 men's and women's tournaments. Hosting had its perks and the Cowgirls took advantage of it as they completed the clean sweep by winning the Big 12 regular season and tournament title.

Follow Cowboy Tennis
Stay up to date with the Oklahoma State men's tennis team:
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

Oklahoma State University Athletics