Cowboys Head to Norman for Bedlam

PDF Notes - Bedlam

STILLWATER – The fifth-ranked Oklahoma State men's tennis team concludes its regular season this weekend, as the Cowboys head south for a top-20 matchup against No. 17 Oklahoma. Saturday's meeting will mark the 74th time that the Bedlam rivals have squared off. First serve is currently scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

OSU has won 13 of its last 14 matches, which includes posting a 3-1 mark in Big 12 action this season. The Cowboys' success in conference play has guaranteed them their first top-two finish in the league since 2007.

Big 12 Scenarios for Oklahoma State
- The Oklahoma State men's tennis team's early success in Big 12 play has put the Cowboys in a strong position heading into the final weekend of the regular season. OSU is guaranteed a first-round bye in next week's Big 12 Championship, regardless of this weekend's outcomes, due to the Cowboys' wins over both Baylor and Texas. Saturday still has plenty at stake, however, as the Cowboys can clinch a share of their first conference title since 1991 if they defeat the Sooners and TCU falls to Texas.

The Oklahoma State Lineup
- At the top of the Cowboys' doubles lineup is the returning All-American duo of Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe. Cash and Kadhe won 34 matches as a tandem last season and became the fourth team in OSU history to earn All-America honors.
- The Cowboys also return five other upperclassmen this season in Lukas Finzelberg, Lucas Gerch, Jurence Mendoza, Tristan Meraut and Nathan Roper. All five figure to play a key role in the OSU lineup this season, including Gerch, whose 79 career singles victories puts him in fifth place on OSU's all-time wins list.
- The final members of head coach Jay Udwadia's roster are newcomers Mathieu Scaglia and Artur Dubinski.

Match Updates
- For updates during matches, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter and then check okstate.com for post-match results and a recap from the day's action.

Oklahoma State from a Distance
- Oklahoma State returns seven upperclassmen from a season that saw the Cowboys host an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2007 and advance to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in program history. The Cowboys racked up 20 duals wins for the second time under head coach Jay Udwadia, with 12 of those victories coming against ranked competition.
- Udwadia is currently in his fifth season in charge of the Cowboys. He earned his 75th win as OSU's head coach when his Cowboys blanked No. 14 Kentucky on January 28 to secure their spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Udwadia is joined by first-year assistant coach Marek Michalicka.

Notable Streaks and Trends
- The Cowboys have been ranked in the top-30 of the ITA Rankings for 38 consecutive weeks. The last time OSU was outside of the top-30 was May 1, 2015. Oklahoma State's top-five ranking this week also marked the squad's ninth
consecutive appearance in the top 10, which is the longest streak in team history.
- OSU's victory over third-ranked Baylor marked the third time under head coach Jay Udwadia that the Cowboys have reached the 20-win mark, having done so previously in 2014 and 2016. It is the 17th time in team history that the Cowboys have won at least 20 matches in a season.
- Oklahoma State has had a doubles tandem earn All-America honors in each of the past three seasons. Last season it was Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe achieving the feat, while Kadhe and Jakob Sude recorded the first two during the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments.
- Since 2013, the Cowboys have made three-straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including advancing to the Round of 16 last season. That streak is the second longest in program history, trailing only a seven-year streak from 2003-09 that saw the Cowboys reach the Round of 16 on three occasions.
- Tristan Meraut has been a key cog in the OSU lineup in recent weeks. The junior has won 12 straight singles contests dating back to the Cowboys' shut-out victory over No. 14 Kentucky in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend final. OSU is unbeaten in dual matches this season when Meraut is victorious in singles (11-0).

Record Watch
- Arjun Kadhe and Lucas Gerch are climbing up Oklahoma State's all-time singles wins list. Gerch is OSU's active singles wins leader, and his 79 career victories put him in fifth place. Kadhe, meanwhile, holds 72 singles wins for his career and is currently in eighth place all-time.
- Julian Cash has been a dynamic presence at the top of OSU's doubles lineups throughout the past two seasons. The junior set an OSU record last season by winning 34 doubles contests with Arjun Kadhe. This season, Cash has added 26 more victories to his total and is now just one win shy of breaking into the top 10 on OSU's all-time doubles wins list.
- Arjun Kadhe has proved this season that his doubles success is no fluke, as the senior has matched his own single-season doubles wins record (34) that he and Cash set a season ago. Kadhe will have numerous chances to set and then extend the record throughout the final stretch of the season.
- Kadhe also currently sits with Oleksandr Nedovyesov and his former doubles partner Jakob Sude as the only three-time All-Americans in OSU history. With his senior campaign underway, Kadhe can become the first Cowboy to earn All-America honors on four occasions this year.

Cowboys in the ITA Rankings
- Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe have posted 26 wins in doubles play this season as they continue to cement themselves as one of OSU's greatest doubles tandems in team history. The duo sit at No. 4 in this week's ranking.
- Kadhe and fellow senior Lucas Gerch are also ranked in doubles, as they sit at No. 43 this week. Gerch is also ranked No. 88 in doubles with fell left-hander Jurence Mendoza.
- Cash is currently Oklahoma State's highest-ranked singles competitor, sitting at No. 23 this week. He is followed by Lukas Finzelberg (No. 77), Arjun Kadhe (No. 93) and Lucas Gerch (No. 108) in the singles rankings.

Road Warriors
- Oklahoma State enters this weekend's Bedlam matchup unbeaten in true road matches this season (7-0).
- An OSU win in Norman this Saturday would cap off the squad's first unbeaten season in true road matches since 1992, when James Wadley's Cowboys posted a 4-0 mark when playing on their opponents' courts.
- OSU's seven road victories this year is tied with the 2014 team for the most during the Udwadia-era.
- If the Cowboys are victorious in Norman this weekend, it would mark Oklahoma State's most road wins since posting a 9-2 mark away from home duing the 1991 season, a season in which OSU captured its 18th conference championship.

Bedlam History
- Oklahoma State leads the all-time series in its rivalry with Oklahoma, 42-31, but have lost each of the past nine meetings with the Sooners dating back to 2009. OSU's last win over the Sooners was a 4-3 triumph in Norman.
- The Bedlam series has seen one team dominate the other for sustained periods throughout the rivalry's history. Oklahoma began the series in 1965 by winning 13 of the teams' first 14 meetings. The Cowboys responded by winning 24 of the next 29 matchups. That trend continues today, as the teams have continued to trade spells of success against each other in recent years.
- OSU owns the longest winning streak in the series, as the Cowboys won 20 consecutive meetings against their rivals from 1996 to 2009. The Cowboys' 20-match winning streak against the Sooners ranks as the third-longest against an opponent in team history, trailing only a 25-match winning streak against Nebraska from 1965 to 1987, and a 26-match run against Missouri from 1972 to 1998.

Cowboys Thriving in Loaded Big 12
- Oklahoma State currently sits in second place in the Big 12 through three weekends of conference play. The Cowboys are 3-1 in-conference this season and their comeback win over No. 3 Baylor secured the squad's first above-.500 finish in league play since 2008.
- OSU's three wins in league play, coupled with its victories over No. 6 Texas and No. 3 Baylor, means that the Cowboys can finish no lower than second in the Big 12 this season. It will be the first time since 2007 that OSU posts a top-two finish in the final regular season standings.

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Players Mentioned

Julian Cash

Artur Dubinski

Lukas Finzelberg

Lucas Gerch

Arjun Kadhe

Jurence Mendoza

Tristan Meraut

Nathan Roper

Mathieu Scaglia

Jakob Sude

Oklahoma State University Athletics