Published: May 13, 2008 10:48 am            

An unlikely run

• Pokes among final 16 teams in the country

An appearance in the third round of the 2007 NCAA Tennis Championship was no surprise for Oklahoma State.

Senior Daniel Byrnes was among the top 25 players in the country. And he was playing No. 3 singles behind freshman Oleksandr Nedovyesov and junior Ivan Puchkarov.

Last season’s run would end with a loss to UCLA in the Round of 16. A 19-5 squad had to replace Byrnes and Artie Burmistrau, a senior who was playing No. 5 singles.

Last Sunday, James Wadley’s squad — with two freshmen and two sophomores — again advanced to the Sweet 16 with a grueling 4-3 victory against No. 11 Tulsa on the Golden Hurricane’s home courts.

“With everything this team has gone through this year, all the injuries, it’s unbelievable to think that we are back in the final 16,” said Wadley, who is 630-284 in 36 years as coach of the Cowboys. “This team has battled and battled all year and Sunday was no different.”

Puchkarov, the team’s lone senior, has perhaps battled more than anybody.

As a sophomore, the Ukranian compiled an 18-3 mark in singles and was named the Big 12 and Central Region Newcomer of the Year. A year ago, Puchkarov was ranked among the top 40 for most of the season.

But nothing has come easy in 2007-08.

“I don’t know, it’s been hard all year with all the things that have happened,” admitted Puchkarov after Sunday’s win. “But I had to fight through it, play my best (Sunday) because it was a very big match.”

On March 28, Puchkarov won just two games against Texas’ fifth-ranked Kellen Damico. It would start a six-match losing streak and eventually send him into the NCAA tourney with a 12-9 mark after a 10-3 start this spring.

It appeared the struggles might continue as O-State’s No. 2 lost to Denver’s Niklas Persson in Saturday’s opening round. Not sure what the Ukranian had for breakfast on Sunday, but the senior was a different player against Tulsa.

In doubles, he teamed with Dmytro Petrov to beat Arnau Brugues and Ricardo Soriano, the 55th-ranked squad in the country. In the regular season meeting, Brugues and Soriano whipped the OSU duo, 8-3.

“I think I may have found something in doubles. I started to play better, feel better,” said Puchkarov. “I took some of that into singles and played a good match.”

Victor Kolik beat Puchkarov in three sets the last time the two played in singles. On Sunday, it was Puchkarov with a 6-4, 7-6, victory.

“Ivan came up big (Sunday),” Wadley said. “He’s won so many big matches for us over his career and this one was another one.”

Freshmen Anton Bobytskyi and Igor Sobolta quietly went about their business on the outer courts last weekend. Bobytskyi had a decisive singles win against Denver on Saturday and teamed with Sobolta to crush Kolik and Alberto Sottocorno at No. 3 doubles on Sunday.

The two are a combined 20-19 in singles this season and were 3-7 at No. 3 doubles before Sunday’s huge win.



Keeping it going

Can the Pokes advance to the final eight for the first time in program history?

In 16 trips to the NCAA Tournament, O-State has been to the final 16 nine times. It will require another monumental effort this Friday when they face No. 6 Southern California at 6 p.m. at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

“Once you get to the second round, everybody is good,” said Nedovyesov, who has played 10 of his last 12 singles matches against members of the top 45. “I expect to have tough matches every time I am on the court.

“We’ve all had to fight all year.”



The schedule

Friday

9 a.m. — North Carolina (21-5) vs Mississippi (23-4); Georgia (23-3) vs Pepperdine (20-6)

noon — Virginia (30-0) vs Michigan (20-6); Tennessee (23-3) vs Baylor (24-8)

3 p.m. — Ohio State (34-1) vs Illinois (20-8); Florida (17-7) vs Texas (22-5)

6 p.m. — Oklahoma State (18-9) vs USC (21-4); Florida State (21-6) vs UCLA (23-1)

Sunday — Quarterfinals at 11 a.m., noon, 5 and 6 p.m.

Monday — Semifinals at 5 p.m.

Tuesday — Championship, 6 p.m.

        

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