Hog Netters Fall to OSU in Region V Final

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Arkansas got off to a good start in Sunday's final of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Region V tournament final at the Dills Indoor Tennis Complex, but Oklahoma State stormed back for a 4-1 victory.
Arkansas, which advanced to the championship match with a 4-0 win over Tulsa earlier in the day, won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead. Matt Roberts and Imraan Ismail gave the Hogs the early lead with a 9-7 victory over Boris Kuharic and Juan Felipe Diaz after Adrians Zguns and Rohan Gajjar had posted a win at No. 2.
After that, it was all Cowboys. Diaz knocked off Ismail at No. 5, 6-3, 6-0; Mark Van Elden beat Zguns at No. 1, 6-4, 6-3; Artsem Burmistrau downed Matt Simpson at No. 4, 6-1, 6-4; and Tomas Bohunicky clinched the match with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 decision over Rohan Gajjar at No. 2.
"I'm proud of our effort, Oklahoma State just jumped all over us," UA head coach Robert Cox said. "It seemed like we were down a break at just about every court. Sometimes when you win that doubles point, you don't come out with an edge and purpose, and they did. I'm disappointed, but we have a good group."
With the win, OSU advances to the ITA National Indoors in February.
In the first match, court No. 1 was very kind to the Razorbacks. After dropping the No. 1 doubles match and winning at No. 2, the doubles point came down to the team of Simpson and Andrei Nicoara against TU's Federico Soriano and Ricardo Soriano.
Simpson and Nicoara won in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-1), on court No. 3 to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Gajjar quickly handled Achim Roth at No. 2, 6-1, 6-2, and Zguns rolled past Ricardo Soriano at No. 1, 6-4, 6-3. Roberts clinched the match at No. 3 on court No. 3 with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over Federico Soriano.
Oklahoma State advanced to the championship match with a 4-1 victory over Oklahoma. OU won the doubles points but OSU, the No. 2 seed, claimed singles victories at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6 to clinch the match.


ITA Region V Tournament
Fayetteville, Ark.
Dills Indoor Tennis Center

Final
Oklahoma St. 4, Arkansas 1
Doubles:
No. 1 Matt Roberts/Imraan Ismail def. Boris Kuharic/Juan Felipe Diaz, 9-7
No. 2 Adrians Zguns/Rohan Gajjar def. Mark Van Elden/Daniel Byrnes, 8-4
No. 3 Tomas Bohunicky/Artsem Burmistrau (OSU) def. Matt Simpson/Andrei Nicoara, 8-0
Singles:
No. 1 Mark Van Elden (OSU) def. Adrians Zguns, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Tomas Bohunicky (OSU) def. Rohan Gajjar, 7-6 (5), 6-2
No. 4 Artsem Burmistrau (OSU) def. Matt Simpson, 6-1, 6-4
No. 5 Juan Felipe Diaz (OSU) def. Imraan Ismail, 6-3, 6-0

Semifinals
Arkansas 4, Tulsa 0
Doubles:
No. 1 Achim Roth/Aleksander Charpantidis (TU) def. Matt Roberts/Imraan Ismail, 8-4
No. 2 Adrians Zguns/Rohan Gajjar (UA) def. Ross Cunningham/Andy Connelly, 8-5
No. 3 Matt Simpson/Andrei Nicoara (UA) def. Federico Soriano/Ricardo Soriano, 9-8 (1)
Singles:
No. 1 Adrians Zguns (UA) def. Ricardo Soriana, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Rohan Gajjar (UA) def. Achim Roth, 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 Matt Roberts (UA) def. Federico Soriano, 7-6 (3), 6-3

Oklahoma St. 4, Oklahoma 1
Doubles:
No. 1 Boris Kuharic/Juan Felipe Diaz (OSU) def. Alexei Ivanov/Federico Chavarria, 8-5
No. 2 Marek Velicka/Silviu Tanasoiu (OU) def. Mark Van Elden/Daniel Byrnes, 8-6
No. 3 Ondrej Fukala/Tommy Garrison (OU) def. Tomas Bohunicky/Artsem Burmistrau, 8-5
Singles:
No. 1 Mark Van Elden (OSU) def. Marek Velicka, 7-5, 6-2
No. 2 Tomas Bohunicky (OSU) def. Alexei Ivanov, 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Boris Kuharic (OSU) def. Ondrej Fukala, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
No. 6 Daniel Byrnes (OSU) def. Lee Gregg, 6-3, 7-5