Cowboys Cruise Past Texas Rio Grande Valley, Oral Roberts

Saturday, January 21

Stillwater, Okla.

6:00 P.M.

Oklahoma State University

Oral Roberts

Cowboys Cruise Past Texas Rio Grande Valley, Oral Roberts

January 21, 2017 | Cowboy Tennis

PDF Results - Texas Rio Grande Valley
PDF Results - Oral Roberts

STILLWATER – The 14th-ranked Oklahoma State men's tennis team kicked its spring season into high gear with victories over both Texas Rio Grande Valley, 6-1, and Oral Roberts, 7-0, on Saturday at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center.

Saturday's victories push the Cowboys to 8-1 on opening day under head coach Jay Udwadia, with their only loss coming against 19th-ranked Tennessee in 2013 - Udwadia's first year at the helm.

"It was great to get a couple of matches underneath our belt," Udwadia said. "I thought that's exactly what the team needed and it was nice to be able to win those matches. We've got a busy weekend ahead next week, but I thought that the guys were sharp tonight. They showed a lot of fight and grit tonight and I'm very happy with the performance overall."

The Cowboys quickly took the upper-hand in doubles play during the day's first match as UTRGV did not field a third tandem, giving the Cowboys a win by default and putting OSU one win away from securing the match's first point.

Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe, ranked No. 5 in the nation, were the ones to secure that point for the Cowboys as their strong serves and excellent chemistry helped the pair overpower Elliot Johnstone and Clement Sarradin, 6-1. OSU would complete a sweep of doubles action just a few minutes later as Lukas Finzelberg and Tristan Meraut recorded their first win as a tandem this season, defeating Andres Hernandez and Matteo Schmit, 6-3, on court two.

In singles action, UTRGV was forced to default at the No. 6 position, giving the Cowboys a 2-0 lead in the contest. Oklahoma State continued to control the match on the remaining five courts however, as the Cowboys in action cruised through their first sets en route to victory.

Nathan Roper was the first Cowboy to tack on another point for his team, as the Edmond, Oklahoma native posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Rodrigo Del Pozo. Just seconds later, Jurence Mendoza locked up the Oklahoma State victory as the junior dropped Andres Hernandez in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. The win was the seventh of the year thus far for Mendoza, who trails only Lukas Finzelberg for the team lead.

The remaining matches were completed shortly thereafter as senior Arjun Kadhe bested Elliot Johnstone in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, to win his fifth singles contest this season. Kadhe's fellow senior, Lucas Gerch, tallied OSU's sixth point of the day with his 66th career singles victory. Gerch's singles success puts him in ninth place on OSU's all-time list.

In the second half of Saturday's doubleheader, Oklahoma State secured its 21st consecutive victory over in-state rival Oral Roberts.

Oklahoma State excelled in doubles action for the second time on Saturday as the fifth-ranked duo of Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe cruised to a 6-2 victory over ORU's Jan Pehnec and Kenneth Boykin. The Cowboys clinched the doubles point for the second time in as many matches when Lukas Finzelberg and Mathieu Scaglia toppled Barnabas Koncz and Amar Saletovic, 6-3.

OSU continued to assert itself in the ensuing singles action, led by the 30th-ranked Lukas Finzelberg at the No. 2 position. Finzelberg was the first Cowboy to secure victory in singles play, and after the German polished off his straight-set victory over ORU's Jan Pehnec, he began a five-minute flurry of finishes in the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center.

Just moments after Finzleberg's match, his doubles partner, Tristan Meraut, capped off an impressive 6-1, 6-0 effort against Alvaro Santamaria. Meraut's triumph was quickly followed by a Lucas Gerch win on court four before Cash and Kadhe followed with victories of their own just minutes after. Left-hander Jurence Mendoza was the final Cowboy to secure victory Saturday night as he captured a back-and-forth first set from Michael Sosnowski before storming to a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the second and securing Oklahoma State's first shutout of the season.

OSU will be back in action next weekend when the Cowboys host the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Kickoff Weekend at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center. They're set to face No. 23 Columbia at 3:30 p.m. on Friday while in-state foe Tulsa and 15th-ranked Kentucky make up the other half of the field.

No. 14 Oklahoma State def. Texas Rio Grande Valley, 6-1
Doubles (Order of finish: 3, 1, 2)
C1: No. 5 Cash/Kadhe (OSU) def. Johnstone/Sarradin (UTRGV), 6-1
C2: Finzelberg/Meraut (OSU) def. Hernandez/Schmit (UTRGV), 6-3
C3: UTRGV - incomplete lineup

Singles (Order of finish: 6, 5, 3, 1, 2, 4)
C1: Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Elliot Johnstone (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-2
C2: Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Matteo Schmit (UTRGV), 6-1, 6-2
C3: Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Andres Hernandez (UTRGV), 6-0, 6-1
C4: Clement Sarradin (UTRGV) def. Mathieu Scaglia (OSU), 0-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10)
C5: Nathan Roper (OSU) def. Rodrigo Del Pozo (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-1
C6: UTRGV - incomplete lineup

No. 14 Oklahoma State def. Oral Roberts, 7-0
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 3)
C1: No. 5 Cash/Kadhe (OSU) def. Pehnec/Boykin (ORU), 6-2
C2: Gerch/Mendoza (OSU) vs. Koncz/Saletovic (ORU), 4-3 unf.
C3: Finzelberg/Scaglia (OSU) def. Santamaria/Sosnowski (ORU), 6-3

Singles (Order of finish: 2, 6, 4, 1, 3, 5)
C1: No. 41 Julian Cash (OSU) def. Bernard Koncz (ORU), 6-2, 6-2
C2: No. 30 Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) def. Jan Pehnec (ORU), 6-2, 6-0
C3: Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Kenneth Boykin (ORU), 6-0, 6-4
C4: Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Amar Saletovic (ORU), 6-2, 6-0
C5: Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Michael Sosnowski (ORU), 6-4, 6-3
C6: Tristan Meraut (OSU) def. Alvaro Santamaria (ORU), 6-1, 6-0