Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Fresno State
Cowboys Set to Face Final Non-Conference Tests
March 26, 2018 | Cowboy Tennis
FULL NOTES
STILLWATER - Oklahoma State's men's tennis team continues its spring season on Wednesday as it hosts Fresno State and UCF at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center. The Cowboys' matchup against Fresno State is slated to start at 5 p.m. and will mark their sixth contest against the team in program history. OSU leads the series, 4-1.
   OSU then hosts No. 40 UCF on Friday at 5:30 p.m.. This is only the second meeting between the two teams in program history. The Cowboys won the lone match up in 2010, 5-2.
THE OKLAHOMA STATE LINEUP
   Oklahoma State returns five veterans from last year's squad that hosted an NCAA Regional for the second-straight year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row.
   Included in that group of returners is the All-American Julian Cash. Cash's doubles success made him the fifth Cowboy in program history to earn multiple All-America honors. Along with his triumph in doubles, Cash also made history last season in the singles rankings by becoming the first Cowboy to crack the top-20 of the singles rankings since Oleksandr Nedovyesov in 2010. He is a three-time Big 12 player of the week and an All-Big 12 selection in singles and doubles. Now entering his senior campaign, the Brighton, England native has the chance to stamp his name even further into the record books.
   Also returning this season will be Jurence Mendoza, Tristan Meraut, Artur Dubinski, and Mathieu Scaglia. All four figure to play a key role in the OSU lineup this season, including Mendoza, whose 65 career doubles victories puts him tied for fourth place on OSU's all-time wins list.
   The team boasts a quartet of newcomers including Brady Draehim, Luke Hammond, Lefty Theodorou and Maxim Tybar.
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. Live video streaming for home matches will be available on okstate.com/watchtennis.
OKLAHOMA STATE FROM A DISTANCE
   Oklahoma State returns three seniors from a season that the Cowboys hosted an NCAA Regional for the second year in a row. All three returning seniors have seen the Cowboys earn a bid NCAA Tournament every year since they arrived on campus. The Cowboys racked up at least 20 dual wins for the third time under head coach Jay Udwadia, with 10 of those victories coming against ranked competition.
   This year, Udwadia enters his sixth season in charge of the Cowboys and earned his 100th win as OSU's head coach Feb. 9 against Northwestern. Udwadia is joined by second-year assistant coach Marek Michalicka and first-year volunteer assistant coach Diego Carstens.
PAST ENCOUNTERS
   Both Fresno State and UCF are familiar foes for the Cowboys. This marks the sixth meeting between the Fresno State Bulldogs and the Cowboys. OSU leads the series, 4-1. The Cowboys defeated Fresno State last in 2009, 4-1, and most recently fell to the Bulldogs in 2010, 3-4.
   This is only the second meeting between OSU and Fresno State. The Cowboys won the sole matchup between the two teams in 2010, 5-2.
NOTABLE STREAKS AND TRENDS
-The Cowboys have been ranked in the top 25 of the ITA Rankings for 41 consecutive weeks. The last time OSU was outside of the top 25 was the preseason of 2016.
-The Cowboys have won at least 15 matches in each of the last four seasons under head coach Jay Udwadia. Three times during that stretch OSU has hit the 20-win mark, winning 21 in 2014, 20 in 2016 and 22 in 2017.
-Oklahoma State has had a doubles tandem earn All-America honors in each of the past four seasons. The last two seasons 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. Cash is the fourth OSU player to ever be named an All-American on two occasions.
-Since 2014, the Cowboys have made four straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including advancing to the Round of 16 two seasons ago. 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.
HOME, SWEET HOME
   In the three seasons since it first opened, the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center has provided an incredible home-court advantage to the Cowboys. During that time OSU has won a staggering 54 matches when playing in the confines of the Greenwood Tennis Center.
   The Cowboys are slated to play 17 matches on their home courts this upcoming season. After this weekend, the Cowboys will return to their home court April 6 to kickoff Big 12 play against Texas Tech.
RECORD WATCH
-Julian Cash's 78 career doubles wins currently put him in fourth place on the Cowboys' all-time list and second on the Big 12 era list. Cash needs just two more wins this season to tie Cliff Price for second place on the program all-time list. The Brighton, England native also holds 51 career singles wins, which ties him with Brad Chiller for ninth place on the Big 12 era career singles list.
-Also with 51 career singles wins, Tristan Meraut is tied with current teammate Julian Cash and Brad Chiller for ninth on the Big-12 era career singles wins list.
-Jurence Mendoza also holds a place on the program career doubles wins and the career singles list. He currently holds the 10th on the Big 12 era career singles wins with 50 wins. He holds the fourth spot in Big 12 era career doubles wins with 67.
-Cash currently sits with a handful of Cowboy Tennis greats as the only players to earn multiple All-America honors. With his senior campaign set to begin, Cash looks to join Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Jakob Sude as the only three-time All-Americans this year.
-Coach Udwadia currently sits at 108 wins in his coaching career at Oklahoma State. He is now in second place for most wins as head coach at OSU.
-Mathieu Scaglia and Luke Hammond currently sit right outside the Big 12 era season singles wins list with 20 and 17 respectively. Scaglia needs two more wins to crack the top 10 and Hammond needs five.
FALL RECAP
   The Oklahoma State men's tennis team found great success during the fall season, starting with a first place finish at the Silverado Invitational at Napa Valley, Cali. The team won the team title by collecting 13 total wins throughout the weekend. The field included two teams that finished inside the top 50 of the 2016-2017 ITA Rankings. Mathieu Scaglia went undefeated in singles matches finishing up with the defeat of Dartmouth's Max Fliegner 6-2, 7-6. Freshman Maxim Tybar had a perfect singles record over the weekend with his final win coming over Dartmouth's Charlie Broom 7-6, 7-5. The Cowboys finished the tournament with a 3-3 record in doubles.
   ITA pre-season rankings were released and the team captured two impressive spots. Julian Cash was ranked as the No. 18 singles player in the nation. Maxim Tybar was ranked the No. 10 Freshman/Newcomer. The preseason singles rankings also featured the new OSU doubles tandem of Cash and freshman Luke Hammond at No. 25 and senior Tristan Meraut at No. 112 in singles.
   The team then traveled to Lafayette, La., where both of the Oklahoma State tennis team's doubles tandems found success in the quarterfinals at the John Breaux Cajun Tennis classic, but fell short in the semifinals. Maxim Tybar and Jurence Mendoza defeated the duo of Samardzic/Wagner of Louisiana State University, 6-2, earlier in the day but came up short against the No. 5 ranked Telles/Banzer tandem from the University of Texas, 6-2. Eleftherios Theodorou and Artur Dubinski gained early momentum with their victory over Csonka/Moreno of LSU, 6-2. However, in their next match against Kapshuck/Curry of Texas Tech, the OSU duo was forced to retire at 5-4 after Dubinski sustained an injury.
   The Cowboys then competed in the ITA All-American tournament where Scaglia fought his way through pre-qualifying play to compete in the qualifying round alongside Mendoza, Meraut and Tybar. Scaglia was the lone Cowboy to advance to the second round qualifying but fell to Texas' Leo Telles. Cash aslo competed in the tournament beginning in the main draw but fell in the round of 16 to Tennessee Tech's Eduardo Mena.
   Next up, the Cowboys traveled to Minneapolis Minn. to compete in the ITA Central Regional. Highlights of the tournament included Meraut advancing to the quarter finals in singles and Dubinski/Theodorou earning the runners-up title in doubles. Meraut and Cash traveled to Charlottesville, Va. to compete in the ATP Charlottesville Challenger qualifying rounds. Meraut fell in the first round and Cash in the second.
COWBOYS IN THE ITA RANKINGS
   A trio Cowboys found themselves in the ITA singles rankings including Julian Cash (No. 68), Artur Dubinski (No. 83) and Mathieu Scaglia (No. 111).
   Cash and his doubles partner, Luke Hammond also earned a spot in the newly released rankings coming in at No. 29 after previously being ranked No. 30. The tandem boasts a 14-6 record on the season and after making it to the round of 16 at the 129th Annual Pacific Coast Doubles Men's Championship.
THE UDWADIA EFFECT
   Since head coach Jay Udwadia took over the program in June of 2012, the Cowboys have seen a resurgence as they have begun to re-enter the national spotlight. OSU's 100 wins during Udwadia's tenure marks the most in a four-year stretch since the Cowboys won 76 from 2005-08.
   Of those 108 wins, 44 have come against ranked competition, including 17 wins over top-25 foes, as the Cowboys have routinely faced the toughest the nation has to offer during Udwadia's five years at the helm. This season the Pokes will again face one of the nation's toughest schedules as their 2018 slate includes 16 teams that earned NCAA Tournament bids a season ago.
