Cowboys Beat No. 32 Harvard, Advance To ITA Kick-Off Championship

Saturday, January 23

Fort Worth, TX

1:00 P.M.

Oklahoma State University

No. 32 Harvard

Cowboys Beat No. 32 Harvard, Advance To ITA Kick-Off Championship

January 23, 2016 | Cowboy Tennis

FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 28-ranked Oklahoma State men's tennis team (4-0; 0-0 Big 12) extended their shutout streak to four on Saturday as they defeated No. 32 Harvard (2-1; 0-0 Ivy League), 4-0, to advance to the championship at the ITA Kick-Off, hosted by TCU.

"For the first match outside, I thought we adjusted pretty well to the elements," coach Jay Udwadia said.

All-American duo Arjun Kadhe/Julian Cash got the Cowboys rolling in doubles with a 6-3 victory over No. 44-ranked Nicky Hu/Brian Yeung of Harvard.

The Pokes just needed one more doubles victory to secure the point, but Cowboy duos Temur Ismailov/Lucas Gerch and Jurence Mendoza/Lukas Finzelberg found themselves in a battle on courts two and three.

With No. 53-ranked Finzelberg/Mendoza trailing 6-5 on court three, Oklahoma State's Ismailov/Gerch needed to close out their match on court two against No. 32-ranked Crimson duo Sebastian Beltrame/Kenny Tao.

After taking a 6-5 lead in the set, Ismailov/Gerch stepped up to the challenge and defeated the Crimson duo 7-5 to give the Cowboys a 1-0 advantage heading into singles.

The junior Kadhe continued his hot start this spring by only surrendering three games and defeating No. 71-ranked Yu of Harvard, 6-1, 6-2, to give the Cowboys a 2-0 edge over the Crimson.

Shortly after, Gerch continued his success at the No. 4 spot with a straight-set victory over Harvard's Tao to put Oklahoma State one point away from a spot in the ITA Kick-Off championship.

After a hard-earned first set win, the All-American Cash clinched the match and a championship bid for the Pokes by beating Harvard's Beltrame, 7-5, 6-1, respectively.

Cowboys Tristan Meraut and Finzelberg each won their first set and were leading in the second before Cash secured the shutout for Oklahoma State.

"Harvard came out with a lot of energy in doubles, but as the match went on we played a lot cleaner in doubles and singles, which was a big key to today's win," Udwadia said.

Tomorrow's championship match will be a Big 12 showdown between the Pokes and No. 3 TCU at 1 p.m. The Cowboys will look to continue their success against the Horned Frogs as they have won six of the last nine matches against them, including a 4-3 thriller at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center back in 2014.

"We are looking forward to a big match tomorrow against TCU," Udwadia said.

Live scoring will be available for tomorrow's match, visit TCU.statbroadcast.com to follow the match live.

And as always, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter and Instagram for everything Oklahoma State men's tennis.

No. 28 Oklahoma State def. No. 32 Harvard, 4-0

Doubles | Order of Finish: 1, 2

Court 1: No. 9 Kadhe/Cash (OSU) def. No. 44 Hu/Yeung (HARV), 6-3
Court 2: Ismailov/Gerch (OSU) def. No. 32 Beltrame/Tao (HARV), 7-5
Court 3: No. 53 Finzelberg/Mendoza (OSU) vs. Haughey/Lam (HARV), 5-6 unf.

Singles | Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3*

Court 1: Temur Ismailov (OSU) vs. Nicky Hu (HARV), 2-6, 6-4 unf.
Court 2: No. 112 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. No. 71 Brian Yeung (HARV), 6-1, 6-2
Court 3: No. 68 Julian Cash (OSU) def. Sebastian Beltrame (HARV), 7-5, 6-1
Court 4: Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Kenny Tao (HARV), 6-1, 6-4
Court 5: Tristan Meraut (OSU) vs. Andy Zhou (HARV), 7-6(5), 1-0 unf.
Court 6: Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) vs. Kelvin Lam (HARV), 6-1, 4-3 unf.