Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Hit The Road To Take On Another Ranked Opponent In No. 30 California
March 04, 2020 | Cowboy Tennis
Logistics
No. 21 Oklahoma State (8-3, 0-0 Big 12)
vs.
No. 30 California (5-2, 0-0 PAC 12)
Date/Time: March 5, 2020/1:00 p.m. CST
Location: La Jolla, Calif.
Venue: La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club
The Basics
- The No. 21 Oklahoma State Cowboys are going up against the No. 30 California Golden Bears in La Jolla, Calif. at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club on Thursday, March 5 at 1:00 p.m. (CST). California will be the sixth ranked team that Oklahoma State will face this season and the third consecutive. OSU has also gone up against No. 4 Michigan, No. 18 Columbia, No. 22 Ole Miss and No. 25 Arizona State.
- The Cowboys are 8-3 after falling to No. 17 Wake Forest last weekend in Stillwater. Wake Forest has since jumped to No. 14 in the ITA Rankings.
- The Cowboys fell just two spots in the latest ITA rankings to put themselves at No. 21 in the country.
- Oklahoma State has not lost back-to-back matches one time this season and will look to avoid doing so this weekend against California. Wake Forest snapped OSU's longest winning streak of the season as it was sitting at four straight until last weekend's match.
- 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. 30 California
- The last time Oklahoma State and the Michigan Wolverines faced off was just last season, once again, in La Jolla, Calif. At the time, the Golden Bears were ranked No. 47 in the country while OSU was sitting at No. 32. Oklahoma State won the match over California, 4-2.
- California has played just seven matches so far this season and is 5-2 in those contests. The Golden Bears opened the season at the ITA Kickoff and fell to No. 11 Stanford, 0-4. Cal pulled off an upset over No. 10 UCLA following that match in their home opener, 4-2.
- The Golden Bears' only other loss came at the hands of No. 3 USC early in the season, 1-4. This will be Cal's first match since they defeated Nevada on Feb. 22.
- California's highest-ranked individual is Yuta Kikuchi, who comes in at No. 36 in the latest ITA Rankings. Jack Molloy comes in next at No. 59. California's final ranked individual is No. 79 Paul Barretto.
- The Golden Bears also claim two doubles teams in the latest ITA Rankings. Ben Draper and Bjorn Hoffman are No. 38 in the country, while Barretto and Can Kaya come in at No. 68.
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 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. 21 in the lates 2020 ITA Division I men's rankings.
- Matej Vocel and Dominik Kellovsky come in at No. 1 in the doubles rankings once again thanks in large part to their ITA Fall National Championship win together.
- Matej Vocel appears in the doubles rankings again at No. 20 in the country with his normal spring partner, Emile Hudd.
- Hudd has had an impressive spring season himself and has earned a second doubles ranking at No. 22 with Luke Hammond.
- The highest ranking in singles came from Matej Vocel, who comes in at No. 62. Dominik Kellovsky comes in at No. 99, followed closely behind by Emile Hudd at No. 102.
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.
