Oklahoma State University Athletics
The Cowboys Welcome Second Straight Ranked Opponent To Stillwater In No. 17 Wake Forest
February 29, 2020 | Cowboy Tennis
Logistics
No. 19 Oklahoma State (8-2, 0-0 Big 12)
vs.
No. 17 Wake Forest (8-3, 0-0 ACC)
Date/Time: March 1, 2020/1:00 p.m.
Location: Greenwood Tennis Center
Live Steam: http://okstate.com/
Live Stats: http://okstate.statbroadcast.
The Basics
- The No. 19 Oklahoma State Cowboys are facing their second consecutive top-20 opponent in No. 17 Wake Forest inside the Greenwood Tennis Center on Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. Wake Forest will be the second-highest ranked team Oklahoma State has faced this season. The Demon Deacons will also be the fifth ranked opponent OSU will face this year after going up against No. 4 Michigan, No. 18 Columbia, No. 22 Ole Miss and No. 25 Arizona State.
- The Cowboys are 8-2 after defeating No. 4 Michigan last weekend in thrilling fashion. The Cowboys swept the Wolverines inside the Greenwood Tennis Center, 4-0. Michigan marks the second ranked opponent OSU had defeated this season after also taking down No. 25 Arizona State in January. No. 4 Michigan is the highest-ranked opponent OSU has defeated since they took down No. 3 Baylor in April of 2017.
- The Cowboys jumped 17 spots in the latest ITA rankings to put themselves at No. 19 in the country. Oklahoma State is the fourth-highest ranked Big 12 team in the ITA Rankings. Texas (9-2) is ranked No. 4, TCU (7-4) is ranked No. 12 and Texas Tech (8-3) is just one spot higher at No. 18.
- OSU is currently riding its longest winning streak of the season with four straight wins under its belt. Oklahoma State started the season with three consecutive wins against San Diego State, Lamar and Bryant.
- The Cowboys had a successful fall season starting with a win at the Silverado Invitational in Napa, Calif. in September. Mathieu Scaglia, Emile Hudd, Luke Hammond and Brady Draheim represented OSU in the tournament.
- The dynamic duo of No. 2 Matej Vocel and Dominik Kellovsky collected its first tournament win of the fall at the Arkansas Futures event in September. The most impressive win of the fall came when Vocel and Kellovsky defeated John McNally and Robert Cash of Ohio State in the finals of the 2019 ITA National Fall Championships, which earned them their No. 1 spot in the fall ITA rankings. The duo fell to No. 2 for one week but has jumped back into the No. 1 spot after McNally and Cash, the last No. 1 duo, dropped a match at the ITA National Indoor Championship.
A Look at No. 17 Wake Forest
- The last time Oklahoma State and the Demon Deacons faced off was last season in early February. Wake Forest was the No. 1 team in the country at the time, and they proved why as they defeated Oklahoma State, 6-1, in Winston-Salem, NC.
- Wake Forest has only dropped three of its 11 matches this season, and all three of those losses have come against top-15 opponents. The Decons' first loss of the season came against No. 12 Baylor in February, 5-2. Wake Forest is currently coming off two straight losses to No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Florida at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
- Wake Forest has defeated one ranked opponent this season. Despite its initial loss to No. 12 Baylor, Wake Forest would come back and defeat the Bears in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, 4-1.
- Wake Forest has two individuals ranked in the ITA Singles Rankings. Bar Botzer is ranked No. 49 in the country, while Rrezart Cungu comes in at No. 106.
- In doubles, the Deacons claim one duo in the rankings in Henri Squire and Eduado Nava. That pairing comes in at No. 25 in the country.
Cowboy Quick Hits
- OSU has won at least 15 matches in six consecutive seasons under head coach Jay Udwadia, which includes 16 wins in the 2018-19 season. Four times during that stretch, OSU has hit the 20-win mark, winning 21 in 2014, 20 in 2016, 22 in 2017 and 20 in 2018.
- The Cowboys logged their sixth-straight NCAA Championship appearance last season but fell in the second round to No. 11 UCLA.
- Head coach Jay Udwadia is second in OSU history in wins with 132. He trails just James Wadley, who has an unprecedented 662 total wins as head coach of the Cowboys. Udwadia also boasts a .653 winning percentage, which is good for fourth-best in OSU history.
- Head coach Jay Udwadia welcomes three new faces to the team this year in Dominik Kellovsky, Oscar Moraing and Etienne Donnet. The latter two were both added to the roster at the beginning of the spring semester.
Cowboys in the Rankings
- OSU is slated No. 19 in the latest 2020 ITA Division I men's rankings.
- Matej Vocel and Dominik Kellovsky jumped back into the top spot of the latest ITA doubles rankings after falling to No. 2 in the previous week's rankings after John McNally and Robert Cash, the last No. 1 duo, dropped a match at the ITA National Indoor Championship.
- Luke Hammond and Emile Hudd come in at No. 20, dropping just one spot from the previous rankings.
- OSU claims one more doubles team in the rankings in Matej Vocel and Emile Hudd, who come in at No. 48, just three spots lower than the previous rankings.
- The highest ranking in singles came from Matej Vocel, who comes in at No. 44. Dominik Kellovsky is the only other ranked individual, as he has jumped back into the top-100; he comes in at No. 66 in the latest ITA Rankings.
Match Updates
- For updates during matches, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter and check okstate.com for post-match results and a recap from the days' action.
