Cowboys Defeat No. 13 Mississippi State to Advance to ITA National Indoors

Sunday, January 28

Stillwater, OK

1 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Mississippi State University

Cowboys Defeat No. 13 Mississippi State to Advance to ITA National Indoors

January 28, 2018 | Cowboy Tennis

STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State Cowboys rallied back after giving up the doubles point to defeat No. 13 Mississippi State, 4-1, at the Greenwood Tennis Center on Sunday. The win secured the Cowboys spot at the ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship Feb. 16-19 in Seattle.

"Losing the doubles point didn't go as planned obviously," coach Jay Udwadia said. "I was happy the way we bounced back, I thought you saw a lot of breaks early on in singles. We kind of treated the doubles point as just kind of a bonus point and it's the first one we lost. So we just needed to keep the energy level going up high, just not think about it. I thought the guys did a good job of blocking it out coming out in singles and getting the job done."

Sophomore Mathieu Scaglia earned the winning point for the Cowboys with his thrilling defeat of No. 118 Niclas Braun. Scaglia won the first set in after a back-and-forth dual that ended in tiebreak, 7-6 (7-4). The France native then came back from a deficit to win the second set in front of a thunderous home crowd, 6-4.

"I just try just to play, not think about the score," Scaglia said. "That was crazy, I was really everywhere, just giving everything I could give. The crowd was huge, I had so much fun."

The Cowboys dropped the doubles point for the first time this season after Julian Cash and Luke Hammond came up short against Mississippi State's Niclas Braun and Trevor Foshey, 4-6.

Jurence Mendoza and Brady Draheim picked up the Cowboys' lone doubles win of the day as they easily defeated No. 41 Florian Broska and Gio Oradini, 6-4.

Mendoza earned his second win of the day in singles where he quickly defeated Florian Broska, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. This tied the Cowboys with the Bulldogs 1-1 and would start the surge of momentum for OSU in singles.

Next to earn a point for the Cowboys was Artur Dubinski who defeated No. 54 Strahinja Rakic, 6-1, 6-4, for his second victory over a ranked opponent this weekend.

Soon after, Luke Hammond powered over his opponent, Foshey, on court six, 6-4, 6-4. This put the Cowboys up, 3-1, and only one win away from clinching a spot at ITA National Indoors.

Despite not finishing his match, Cash took No. 3 Borges to tiebreak in the second set after losing the first set, 4-6. The senior dominated the tiebreaker winning 7-6 (7-2). This extended the match to three sets, giving Tristan Meraut and Scaglia time to clinch their matches.

Tristan Meraut also did not finish his match against No. 29 Gio Oradini but won his first set since losing his last two singles match ups.

"'I'm really happy about Tristan," Udwadia said. "He's been struggling a little bit with his level, and today he found it. You can see a lot more of Meraut-Style of playing; he's definitely found it. He's playing confident."

The Cowboys will return to the Greenwood Tennis on Sunday Feb. 4, to take on Tulane at 1 p.m.

Keep up with all things OSU Men's Tennis by following @CowboyTennis on social media.

No. 14 Oklahoma State 4, No. 13 Mississippi State 1
Jan. 28, 2018 | Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater, Okla.

Doubles (Order of finish: 3, 2, 1)
C1: No. 49 Braun/Foshey (MSU) def. Cash/Hammond (OSU), 6-4
C2: Rakic/Borges (MSU) def. Dubinski/Theodorou (OSU) 6-3
C3: Mendoza/Draheim (OSU) def. No. 41 Broska/Oradini (MSU), 6-4

Singles (Order of finish: 5, 3, 6, 4)
C1: Julian Cash (OSU) vs. No. 3 Nuno Borges (MSU), 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 0-1 uf.
C2: Tristan Meraut (OSU) vs. No. 29 Gio Oradini (MSU), 6-3, 3-6, 21 uf.
C3: Artur Dubinski (OSU) def. No. 54 Strahinja Rakic (MSU), 6-1, 6-4
C4: No. 93 Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) def. No. 118 Niclas Braun (MSU), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
C5: Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Florian Broska (MSU), 6-1, 6-2
C6: Luke Hammond (OSU) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU), 6-4, 6-4