Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
University of Texas
Cowboys Set For Weekend in Texas
April 11, 2018 | Cowboy Tennis
STILLWATER--Â Oklahoma State's men's tennis team continues Big 12 play this weekend as it travels to No. 19 Texas and No. 9 TCU.
    The Cowboys' matchup against Texas is slated to start at 4 p.m. at the Texas Tennis Center and will mark their 32nd contest against the team in program history. OSU trails the series, 27-4, with the Cowboys most recent win against the
    Longhorns coming last season. OSU travels up I-35 to face No. 9 TCU on Sunday at 1 p.m. This is the 16th meeting between the two teams in program history. The Cowboys trail the series against the Horned Frogs, 8-7, with their most recent win coming in 2014.
THE OKLAHOMA STATE LINEUP
   Oklahoma State returns five veterans from last year's squad that hosted an NCAA Regional for the second-straight year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row.
   Included in that group of returners is the All-American Julian Cash. Cash's doubles success made him the fifth Cowboy in program history to earn multiple All-America honors. Along with his triumph in doubles, Cash also made history last season in the singles rankings by becoming the first Cowboy to crack the top-20 of the singles rankings since Oleksandr Nedovyesov in 2010. He is a three-time Big 12 player of the week and an All-Big 12 selection in singles and doubles. Now entering his senior campaign, the Brighton, England native has the chance to stamp his name even further into the record books.
   Also returning this season will be Jurence Mendoza, Tristan Meraut, Artur Dubinski, and Mathieu Scaglia. All four figure to play a key role in the OSU lineup this season, including Mendoza, whose 65 career doubles victories puts him tied for fourth place on OSU's all-time wins list.
   The team boasts a quartet of newcomers including Brady Draehim, Luke Hammond, Lefty Theodorou and Maxim Tybar.
MATCH UPDATES
   Friday's match against Texas will be broadcast on ESPN's Longhorn Network. Live streaming will be avilable for the
match on Sunday at TCU at https://playsight.com/#/livestreaming/tennis/tcu.
    For updates during matches, follow @CowboyTennis on Twitter and check okstate.com for post-match results and
a recap from the day's action.
Â
OKLAHOMA STATE FROM A DISTANCE
   Oklahoma State returns three seniors from a season that the Cowboys hosted an NCAA Regional for the second year in a row. All three returning seniors have seen the Cowboys earn a bid NCAA Tournament every year since they arrived on campus. The Cowboys racked up at least 20 dual wins for the third time last season under head coach Jay Udwadia, with 10 of those victories coming against ranked competition.
   This year, Udwadia enters his sixth season in charge of the Cowboys and earned his 100th win as OSU's head coach Feb. 9 against Northwestern. Udwadia is joined by second-year assistant coach Marek Michalicka and first-year volunteer assistant coach Diego Carstens.
PAST ENCOUNTERS
   Both Texas and TCU are familiar foes for the Cowboys as a part of the Big 12 Conference. This marks the 32nd meeting between the Longhorns and the Cowboys. Texas leads the series, 4-27. The Cowboys defeated Texas last year in Stillwater to snap a 12 match losing streak against the Longhorns, 4-2. Under coach Udwadia, the Cowboys are 1-6 against Texas.
   This is the 16th meeting between OSU and TCU. The Cowboys trail the series against the Horned Frogs, 7-8. The Cowboys' most recent win against TCU came in 2014 where OSU won, 4-3. The Cowboys are 1-6 against TCU under Udwadia.
NOTABLE STREAKS AND TRENDS
-The Cowboys have been ranked in the top 25 of the ITA Rankings for 43 consecutive weeks. The last time OSU was outside of the top 25 was the preseason of 2016.
-The Cowboys have won at least 15 matches in each of the last six seasons under head coach Jay Udwadia including this 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 so far this 2018 season.
-Oklahoma State has had a doubles tandem earn All-America honors in each of the past four seasons. The last two seasons 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. Cash is the fourth OSU player to ever be named an All-American on two occasions.
-Since 2014, the Cowboys have made four straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including advancing to the Round of 16 two seasons ago. 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.
-This is the first season under coach Udwadia the Cowboys have started Big 12 play, 2-0.
-Eleftherios Theodorou is currently riding a eight-match win streak in singles. He is also undefeated in singles in dual play.
-OSU has not lost a match when they have won the doubles point this season.
-OSU has taken the doubles point in the last six matches.
HOME, SWEET HOME
   In the three seasons since it first opened, the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center has provided an incredible home-court advantage to the Cowboys. During that time OSU has won a staggering 58 matches when playing in the confines of the Greenwood Tennis Center.
   The Cowboys are slated to play 17 matches on their home courts this upcoming season. After this weekend, the Cowboys will return to their home court for the final time this season to face Bedlam-foe Oklahoma on April 21.
RECORD WATCH
-Julian Cash's 80 career doubles wins currently put him in tie him for third place on the Cowboys' all-time list and second on the Big 12 era list. Cash needs twelve more wins this season to tie Charlie Laster for second place on the program all-time list. The Brighton, England native also holds 51 career singles wins, which ties him with Brad Chiller for tenth place on the Big 12 era career singles list.
-Also with 52 career singles wins, Tristan Meraut holds the ninth on the Big-12 era career singles wins list.
-Jurence Mendoza also holds a place on the program career doubles wins and the career singles list. He currently is tied for 9th with current teammate Tristan Meraut on the Big 12 era career singles wins with 52. He holds the fourth spot in Big 12 era career doubles wins with 70.
-Cash currently sits with a handful of Cowboy Tennis greats as the only players to earn multiple All-America honors. With his senior campaign set to begin, Cash looks to join Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Jakob Sude as the only three-time All-Americans this year.
-Coach Udwadia currently sits at 112 wins in his coaching career at Oklahoma State. He is now in second place for most wins as head coach at OSU.
-Mathieu Scaglia has won 22 singles matches this season and is currently tied for eigth on the Big 12 era season singles wins list.
FALL RECAP
   The Oklahoma State men's tennis team found great success during the fall season, starting with a first place finish at the Silverado Invitational at Napa Valley, Cali. The team won the team title by collecting 13 total wins throughout the weekend. The field included two teams that finished inside the top 50 of the 2016-2017 ITA Rankings. Mathieu Scaglia went undefeated in singles matches finishing up with the defeat of Dartmouth's Max Fliegner 6-2, 7-6. Freshman Maxim Tybar had a perfect singles record over the weekend with his final win coming over Dartmouth's Charlie Broom 7-6, 7-5. The Cowboys finished the tournament with a 3-3 record in doubles.
   ITA pre-season rankings were released and the team captured two impressive spots. Julian Cash was ranked as the No. 18 singles player in the nation. Maxim Tybar was ranked the No. 10 Freshman/Newcomer. The preseason singles rankings also featured the new OSU doubles tandem of Cash and freshman Luke Hammond at No. 25 and senior Tristan Meraut at No. 112 in singles.
   The team then traveled to Lafayette, La., where both of the Oklahoma State tennis team's doubles tandems found success in the quarterfinals at the John Breaux Cajun Tennis classic, but fell short in the semifinals. Maxim Tybar and Jurence Mendoza defeated the duo of Samardzic/Wagner of Louisiana State University, 6-2, earlier in the day but came up short against the No. 5 ranked Telles/Banzer tandem from the University of Texas, 6-2. Eleftherios Theodorou and Artur Dubinski gained early momentum with their victory over Csonka/Moreno of LSU, 6-2. However, in their next match against Kapshuck/Curry of Texas Tech, the OSU duo was forced to retire at 5-4 after Dubinski sustained an injury.
   The Cowboys then competed in the ITA All-American tournament where Scaglia fought his way through pre-qualifying play to compete in the qualifying round alongside Mendoza, Meraut and Tybar. Scaglia was the lone Cowboy to advance to the second round qualifying but fell to Texas' Leo Telles. Cash aslo competed in the tournament beginning in the main draw but fell in the round of 16 to Tennessee Tech's Eduardo Mena.
   Next up, the Cowboys traveled to Minneapolis Minn. to compete in the ITA Central Regional. Highlights of the tournament included Meraut advancing to the quarter finals in singles and Dubinski/Theodorou earning the runners-up title in doubles. Meraut and Cash traveled to Charlottesville, Va. to compete in the ATP Charlottesville Challenger qualifying rounds. Meraut fell in the first round and Cash in the second.
COWBOYS IN THE ITA RANKINGS
   A duo of Cowboys found themselves in the ITA singles rankings including Julian Cash (No. 49) and Artur Dubinski (No. 71).
   Three OSU tandems appeared in the doubles rankings this week. Cash and his doubles partner, Luke Hammond earned a spot in the newly released rankings coming in at No. 26 after previously being ranked No. 30. The tandem boasts a 14-6 record on the season and after making it to the round of 16 at the 129th Annual Pacific Coast Doubles Men's Championship.Â
   Artur Dubinski and Eleftherios Theodorou made their debut in the rankings for the first time this season coming in at No. 64 after defeating the No. 3 doubles tandem in the nation last week.Â
   Julian Cash and Maxim Tybar also had a showing in the doubles rankings this week coming in at No. 79.
THE UDWADIA EFFECT
   Since head coach Jay Udwadia took over the program in June of 2012, the Cowboys have seen a resurgence as they have begun to re-enter the national spotlight. OSU's 100 wins during Udwadia's tenure marks the most in a four-year stretch since the Cowboys won 76 from 2005-08.
