Number Four Oklahoma State Edges Men’s Tennis, 4-3

Friday, March 10

Stillwater, OK

3:30 p.m.

University of Memphis

#4 Oklahoma State University

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Number Four Oklahoma State Edges Men’s Tennis, 4-3

Mar 10, 2017 | Men's Tennis

#4 Oklahoma State 4, #26 Memphis 3

Tigers come back to tie it at 3-all before slipping on the road.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – Memphis (10-3) jumped out to a quick start and took the doubles point and a 2-0 lead in the match at number four ranked Oklahoma State (12-3), but could not steal the win in a 4-3 loss in Stillwater, Friday.

Memphis took the early 1-0 lead with wins at two and three doubles. The freshman team of Jan Pallares and Matt Story got the first Memphis win of the day with a 6-2 win at three doubles. Ryan Peniston and Felix Rauch then won their seventh straight doubles match, and their second over a ranked opponent of the spring, with a 6-1 win over the #71 ranked team of Lucas Gerch and Jurence Mendoza.

With the doubles point in hand, Pallares kept his momentum up, grabbing a quick 6-1 first set win, then closing out the match with a 6-4 win in the second set for a 2-0 Memphis lead.

But the home team tied it up quickly with a 6-4, 6-2 win from #54 ranked Arjun Kadhe over Chris Patzanovsky, the second consecutive win against a ranked opponent for the Tiger sophomore. The Cowboys tied it up with a 6-4, 6-4 win from #22 ranked Julian Cash at one singles and pushed ahead with a 6-4 win at six singles.

But Memphis rallied back as Kai Lemke closed out a straight set win, 6-2, 6-4, over #62 ranked Lukas Finzelberg.

That tied the match up at 3-3 and left junior Andrew Watson, the reigning American Athletic Conference player of the week, on the court with a set in hand. Watson won his opening set 7-6 and had pushed out to a 4-2 lead in the second when Gerch recovered for a 7-5 second set win. With the momentum shift and boost from his home crowd, Gerch jumped out to a 4-1 start in the third set and never looked back, closing out the 4-3 Oklahoma State win with a 6-3 third set final score.

Memphis will remain in Stillwater for one more day and will face San Diego State in a non-conference match, Saturday, at 1 p.m.

The Tigers return home to open conference play against Temple, Wednesday, at noon.

#4 Oklahoma State 4, #26 Memphis 3
Singles
No. 1 -- #22 Julian Cash def. Ryan Peniston (Memphis), 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 -- #124 Lucas Gerch def. Andrew Watson (Memphis), 6-7, 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 – Kai Lemke (Memphis) def. #62 Lukas Finzelberg, 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 -- #54 Arjun Kadhe def. Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis), 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 – Jan Pallares (Memphis) def. Arthur Dubinski, 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 – Tristan Meraut def. Felix Rauch (Memphis), 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 6, 3, 2
Doubles
No. 1 -- #3 Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe vs. Kai Lemke/Andrew Watson (Memphis), 4-3, uf
No. 2 – Felix Rauch/Ryan Peniston (Memphis) def. #71 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza, 6-1
No. 3 – Matt Story/Jan Pallares (Memphis) def. Lukas Finzelberg/Artur Dubinski, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2