Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Wake Forest
No. 17 Wake Forest Hands Oklahoma State Its First Home Loss Of The Season
March 01, 2020 | Cowboy Tennis
STILLWATER -Â The No. 19 Oklahoma State Cowboy tennis team faced off against the No. 17 Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Sunday afternoon and lost for the first time at home this season, 4-3.
The Cowboys claimed the doubles point over the Deacons in their first outdoor match of the year at home. No. 48 Emile Hudd and Matej Vocel won the first match of the day in their second straight doubles upset over No. 25 Eduardo Nava and Henri Squire, 6-3. The second doubles match of the day was taken by Wake Forest on court two, as Taha Baadi and Melios Efstathiou defeated Luke Hammond and Brady Draheim, 7-5
The doubles point would be decided on court three once again. Dominik Kellovsky and Etienne Donnet faced off against Bar Botzer and Rrezart Cungu in a thrilling match to decide the doubles point. The match would be decided in a tiebreaker, and the Cowboys would win it, 7-6(8).
"We continue to come out and play solid in doubles," said head coach Jay Udwadia. "Everyone pulled together, and it's not just two or three people winning all the time. There's different people that step up. I think we're becoming a complete team, and as the season goes on, you want to peak at the end. We're playing at a high level, and hopefully it will only get better."
For the second week in a row, Emile Hudd was the first singles match to finish, as he defeated Henri Squire, 6-2, 6-2, to give OSU a 2-0 lead. No. 66 Dominik Kellovsky won on court two in a heated match against Taha Baadi in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, giving the Cowboys a 3-0 advantage with four other courts left to finish.
Oklahoma State dropped three consecutive singles matches after winning its first two. The reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, Etienne Donnet, lost his match on court five to Eduardo Nava, 6-4, 6-2. Fellow freshman Oscar Moraing would drop his match on court six, 7-5, 6-2, to Rrezart Cungu, which closed the gap for Wake Forest, 3-2. Mathieu Scaglia fell on court four to Melios Efstathiou, 7-5, 6-4, tying the match up at three points apiece.Â
The final point of the day would be decided on court one, as No. 44 Matej Vocel and No. 49 Bar Botzer needed three sets to decide the match. Vocel took the first set, 7-6(4), but Botzer would respond with a 7-5 victory in the second. In the third set tiebreaker, the games would see-saw back and forth before Bar Botzer claimed a 7-5 victory.Â
"We played really hard, and it was just a great college tennis match," said Udwadia. "Credit to Wake Forest. It was their day today, and they really played well at the end. That's a great program they have. I thought we played and competed well, and we were just one point away."
Sunday's loss moves the Cowboys to 8-3 on the year, with all three of their losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents in No. 18 Columbia, No. 22 Ole Miss and now No. 17 Wake Forest. Sunday was the first outdoor home match of the season for the Cowboys and also marks the first loss of the season at the Greenwood Tennis Center for the Cowboys.Â
The Cowboys will now travel to La Jolla, Calif. to play against California and in the Pacific Coast Doubles tournament. OSU will face California on March 5, while the tournament will begin on March 6 and last until March 8.
Follow along with the rest of the Cowboys' season with @CowboyTennis on social media.
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