Cowboys Knock Off No. 22 Columbia, Advance To ITA Kick-Off Final

Friday, January 27

Stillwater, Okla.

3:30 P.M.

Oklahoma State University

Columbia

Cowboys Knock Off No. 22 Columbia, Advance To ITA Kick-Off Final

January 27, 2017 | Cowboy Tennis

PDF Results - Oklahoma State 4, Columbia 1

STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State men's tennis team secured its spot in the championship round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Kick-Off Weekend as the 14th-ranked Cowboys knocked off No. 22 Columbia, 4-1, at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center on Friday.

The Cowboys' win on Friday night puts them one victory away from locking up a spot at next month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Virgina. Saturday's matchup will be a familiar scene for the Cowboys, who found themselves in the same situation last season, only to fall just short of advancing in a hard-fought loss to No. 3 TCU in Fort Worth.

In doubles play, OSU faced both of Columbia's top-40 ranked doubles tandems, but was able to jump in front of the Lions quickly as the Cowboys swept doubles play for the third time in as many matches.

"We knew it was going to be tough in doubles, but I thought that we played cleanly, especially on court one," head coach Jay Udwadia said. "I didn't see a lot of returns miss and they were great with their first serve. There was a lot of fire from those guys and they were able to win that match in under 20 minutes."

Fifth-ranked Julian Cash and Arjun claimed the Cowboys' first victory of the day, dropping No. 34 Shawn Hadavi and Jackie Tang, 6-1, in just 13 minutes. The win was the 80th of Kadhe's career, making him the third Cowboy in team history to reach that mark.

With tight matches on two and three and tension building inside the Greenwood Tennis Center, Lucas Gerch and Jurence Mendoza were able to seal the doubles point for the Cowboys as the pair toppled the nation's No. 8 team of Richard and Victor Pham, 7-5, to claim the doubles point for OSU.

The Cowboys continued to play on the front foot in the singles action that followed, winning four of the six first sets available to them on Friday. It was a trio of Cowboys claimed victory in the second set, however, that would ultimately secure Oklahoma State's third win of the season.

After Columba leveled the match at one-all on court six, Jurence Mendoza sparked a flurry of finishes that saw the Cowboys pull back in front and then claim victory just minutes later. Mendoza, playing on court five, earned his third dual victory of the season as he knocked off Columbia's Richard Pham in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.

Arjun Kadhe got in on the action as he dropped Jackie tang on court three, 6-4, 6-2, shortly thereafter before Lucas Gerch provided the clinching point with a gutsy 6-4, 6-3, victory on court four. That trio of Cowboys has combined to go 9-0 in singles play during the spring season, with all nine of their victories coming in straight sets.

Oklahoma State will now square off with No. 14 Kentucky tomorrow at noon inside the Greenwood Tennis Center. The winner of that match will earn an automatic berth into the ITA National Indoor Team Championships, which begin on February 17 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

No. 13 Oklahoma State vs. No. 22 Columbia
Jan. 27, 2017 | Stillwater, Okla. | Greenwood Tennis Center

Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 2)
C1: No. 5 Cash/Kadhe (OSU) def. No. 34 Hadavi/Tang (COL), 6-1
C2: Gerch/Mendoza (OSU) def. No. 8 R. Pham/V. Pham (COL), 6-4
C3: Finzelberg/Meraut (OSU) vs. Ambrozy/Grant (COL), 5-5, unf.

Singles (Order of finish: 6, 5, 3, 4)
C1: No. 41 Julian Cash (OSU) vs. No. 40 Victor Pham (COL) 5-7, 4-3, unf.
C2: No. 30 Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) vs. No. 48 Shawn Hadavi (COL), 6-3, 1-6, 0-3, unf.
C3: Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Jackie Tang (COL), 6-4, 6-2
C4: Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Alex Keyser (COL), 6-4, 6-3
C5: Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Richard Pham (COL), 6-3, 6-2
C6: Timothy Wang (COL) def. Tristan Meraut (OSU), 6-2, 6-1