Cowboys Continue Big 12 Play With Texas Two-Step

PDF Notes - Texas Tech & Baylor

STILLWATER - The eighth-ranked Oklahoma State men's tennis team continues Big 12 play this weekend as the Cowboys hit the road to face No. 42 Texas Tech on Friday at 5:30 p.m. before a Sunday showdown against No. 3 Baylor in Waco, Texas.

OSU defeated both Texas Tech and Baylor during the teams' regular season meetings in Stillwater last season, but the Cowboys dropped a hard-fought match to the Bears in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship.

The Cowboys are coming off a 4-2 victory over No. 6 Texas this past Sunday, which marked the squad's first win over the Longhorns since 2007 and its first triumph in Big 12 action this year.

The Oklahoma State Lineup
- At the top of the Cowboys' doubles lineup is the returning All-American duo of Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe. Cash and Kadhe won 34 matches as a tandem last season and became the fourth team in OSU history to earn All-America honors.
- The Cowboys also return five other upperclassmen this season in Lukas Finzelberg, Lucas Gerch, Jurence Mendoza, Tristan Meraut and Nathan Roper. All five figure to play a key role in the OSU lineup this season, including Gerch, whose 77 career singles victories puts him in a tie for fifth place on OSU's all-time wins list.
- The final members of head coach Jay Udwadia's roster are newcomers Mathieu Scaglia and Artur Dubinski.

Match Updates
- For updates during matches, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter and then check okstate.com for post-match results and a recap from the day's action.

Oklahoma State from a Distance
- Oklahoma State returns seven upperclassmen from a season that saw the Cowboys host an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2007 and advance to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in program history. The Cowboys racked up 20 duals wins for the second time under head coach Jay Udwadia, with 12 of those victories coming against ranked competition.
- Udwadia is currently in his fifth season in charge of the Cowboys. He earned his 75th win as OSU's head coach when his Cowboys blanked No. 14 Kentucky on January 28 to secure their spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Udwadia is joined by first-year assistant coach Marek Michalicka.

Notable Streaks and Trends
- The Cowboys have been ranked in the top-30 of the ITA Rankings for 36 consecutive weeks. The last time OSU was outside of the top-30 was May 1, 2015.
- The Cowboys have now won at least 15 matches in each of the last four seasons under head coach Jay Udwadia. Twice during that stretch OSU has hit the 20-win mark, winning 22 in 2014 and 20 a season ago.
- Oklahoma State has had a doubles tandem earn All-America honors in each of the past three seasons. Last season it was Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe achieving the feat, while Kadhe and Jakob Sude recorded the first two during the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments. Kadhe is the first OSU player to ever be named an All-American in doubles on three occasions.
- Since 2013, the Cowboys have made three-straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including advancing to the Round of 16 last season. That streak is the second longest in program history, trailing only a seven-year streak from 2003-09 that saw the Cowboys reach the Round of 16 on three occasions.
- Lucas Gerch has been instrumental in the Cowboys' success this spring. The senior has posted a 13-2 mark in dual-match play so far this spring and Oklahoma State is 12-1 this season when Gerch wins his singles matchup.
- Tristan Meraut has been a key cog in the OSU lineup in recent weeks. The junior has won 10 straight singles contests dating back to the Cowboys' shut-out victory over No. 14 Kentucky in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend final.

Record Watch
- Arjun Kadhe and Lucas Gerch are climbing up Oklahoma State's all-time singles wins list. Gerch is OSU's active singles wins leader, and his 78 career victories put him in fifth place. Kadhe, meanwhile, holds 71 singles wins for his career and is currently in a four-way tie for eighth place on the all-time list.
- Julian Cash's record-setting 2015-16 season left him with 34 doubles wins as a Cowboy. If he and partner Arjun Kadhe were to replicate their success from last season, Cash would find himself in sixth place after his junior campaign.
- Arjun Kadhe currently sits with Oleksandr Nedovyesov and his former doubles partner Jakob Sude as the only three-time All-Americans in OSU history. With his senior campaign underway, Kadhe can become the first Cowboy to earn All-America honors on four occasions this year.

Cowboys in the ITA Rankings
- Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe have posted 24 wins in doubles play this season as they continue to cement themselves as one of OSU's greatest doubles tandems in team history. The duo sits at No. 5 in this week's rankings.
- Kadhe and fellow senior Lucas Gerch are also ranked in doubles, as they sit at No. 45 this week. Gerch is also ranked No. 75 in doubles with fell left-hander Jurence Mendoza.
- Cash is currently Oklahoma State's highest-ranked singles competitor, sitting at No. 27 this week. The junior is the first Cowboy to be ranked in the top-30 since Oleksandr Nedovyesov in 2010.
- Lukas Finzelberg and Arjun Kadhe both hold singles rankings as well, coming in at No. 75 and No. 80, respectively. Gerch rounds out the quartet of Cowboys in the singles rankings as the senior sits at No. 84 this week.

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Players Mentioned

Julian Cash

Artur Dubinski

Lukas Finzelberg

Lucas Gerch

Arjun Kadhe

Jurence Mendoza

Tristan Meraut

Nathan Roper

Mathieu Scaglia

Jakob Sude

Oklahoma State University Athletics