No. 20 Men's Tennis Falls at No. 11 Oklahoma State, 4-3

Sunday, February 4

Stillwater, Okla.

1 PM

Tulane University

#11 Oklahoma State

Photo by: Parker Waters

No. 20 Men's Tennis Falls at No. 11 Oklahoma State, 4-3

Feb 4, 2018 | Men's Tennis

STILLWATER, Okla. - The 20th-ranked Tulane men's tennis team's late rally came up just short in a 4-3 non-conference setback at 11th-ranked Oklahoma State on Sunday afternoon at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

Tulane (3-2) had trouble building early momentum, as Oklahoma State (6-0) jumped ahead on all three doubles courts. The Cowboys earned a 6-2 win on court three, before clinching the first point of the match with a 6-0 victory on court one to take a 1-0 lead.

"What a battle for our boys," head coach Mark Booras said. "We were in a pretty dark place during and after the doubles. In doubles, we came out like a deer in headlights and didn't step up to the challenge. They responded to a different kind of challenge I gave them after doubles and showed what they were made of."

The Green Wave and Cowboys split first sets on the six singles courts directly down the middle, but the home team struck first with straight set win at the No. 2 position to record the second team point of the match.

Tulane cut the deficit in half when junior and 107th-ranked Tyler Schick scored a 6-4, 6-3 win out of the No. 5 spot, but Oklahoma State pushed the Wave to the brink with another straight set win on court six to make it 3-1.

The Green Wave picked up its rally however, as Hamish Stewart took down Tristan Meraut, 7-6(3), 7-5, from the No. 3 spot in the lineup, before senior and 21st-ranked Constantin Schmitz rallied from a lost first set to win the final two frames, 7-6(6) and 6-0, to tie the overall match, 3-3.

All attention went to court four where sophomore and 46th-ranked Luis Erlenbusch won the first set, 7-6(4), against 93rd-ranked Mathieu Scaglia, but dropped the second, 6-3. Erlenbusch fell behind, 4-0, in the third set, but countered with a break to make it 4-2. Scaglia would hold on however, closing out the match with a 6-3 win.

"It ended up being a great match and we just fell a little short," Booras said. "These guys have a lot of heart and fought their tails off for Tulane. I'm very proud of their efforts."

Next up for Tulane is a February 18 home match against Nicholls State. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m., at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center.

#11 Oklahoma State 4, #20 Tulane 3

Singles competition
1. #21 Constantin Schmitz (TLN) def. Julian Cash (OKST) 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0
2. Artur Dubinski (OKST) def. #112 Ewan Moore (TLN) 6-2, 6-2
3. Hamish Stewart (TLN) def. Tristan Meraut (OKST) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
4. #93 Mathieu Scaglia (OKST) def. #46 Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3
5. #107 Tyler Schick (TLN) def. Luke Hammond (OKST) 6-4, 6-3
6. Brady Draheim (OKST) def. Tim Ruetzel (TLN) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Julian Cash/Luke Hammond (OKST) def. Constantin Schmitz/Ewan Moore (TLN) 6-0
2. Artur Dubinski/Leftherios Theodorou (OKST) vs. #16 Tyler Schick/Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) 4-2, unfinished
3. Brady Draheim/Mathieu Scaglia (OKST) def. #47 Tim Ruetzel/Hamish Stewart (TLN) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,5,6,3,1,4)