Wake Forest Athletics
Sunday, March 1
Stillwater, OK
2 PM
Wake Forest University
4
at
3
Oklahoma State
Photo by: Brian Westerholt/Sports On Film
No. 17 Deacs Rally to Defeat No. 19 Oklahoma State
3/1/2020 7:53:00 PM | Men's Tennis
STILLWATER, OKLA. – 17th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis erased a 3-0 deficit, winning four consecutive singles matches, to defeat No. 19 Oklahoma State 4-3 on Sunday evening. Junior Bar Botzer clinched the win for the Deacs on the top court in a three-set battle.
"It was really nice to get outdoors and pick up a tough win on the road," head coach Tony Bresky said. "Doubles came down to a couple points and unfortunately it didn't go our way. We worked really hard on our fitness these last couple of weeks and it payed off in the end. We had nice wins from the bottom of our lineup and Bar saved a match point on the way to a really tough three-set win. It was a great way to start off the outdoor portion of our season."
The doubles point came down to the third court after Oklahoma picked up a 6-3 decision on court one and Wake answered back with a 7-5 win from Melios Efstathiou and Taha Baadi. Despite being down 4-1, Botzer and Rrezart Cungu rallied to take a 5-4 lead. The Cowboys tied the match at 6-6 and eventually clinched the doubles point, edging the Deacons 7-6 (8).
Oklahoma State (8-3) seemed to be in control taking the first two singles matches to take a commanding 3-0 lead but Wake Forest (9-3) rallied to win the final four singles points.
Redshirt-junior Eduardo Nava delivered the first point for the Deacons, topping Etienne Donnet 6-4, 6-2 on court five. 106th-ranked Rrezart Cungu finished just moments later with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Oscar Moraing putting the Deacons within one.
On court four, Melios Efstathiou tied the match 3-3 after defeating Mathieu Scaglia 7-5, 6-4.
All eyes turned to court one where No. 49 Botzer was locked into a gritty battle with No. 44 Matej Vocel. Vocel took the opening set in a tiebreak 7-6 (4), but Botzer was able to force a third winner-take-all set after winning the second frame 7-5. As the match approached the four-hour mark, Botzer clinched the top-20 road victory for the Deacs with another 7-5 decision.
Up next, Wake Forest will return home for a midweek doubleheader hosting Duke on Wednesday at 4 p.m. to open ACC play. The Deacons will then face in -state rival UNCG at approximately 7 p.m.
FULL RESULTS
Singles
1. #49 Bar Botzer (WAKE) def. #44 Matej Vocel (OKST) 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 7-5
2. #66 Dominik Kellovsky (OKST) def. Taha Baadi (WAKE) 6-2, 6-1
3. Emile Hudd (OKST) def. Henri Squire (WAKE) 6-2, 6-3
4. Melios Efstathiou (WAKE) def. Mathieu Scaglia (OKST) 7-5, 6-4
5. Eduardo Nava (WAKE) def. Etienne Donnet (OKST) 6-4, 6-2
6. #106 Rrezart Cungu (WAKE) def. Oscar Moraing (OKST) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
1. #48 Matej Vocel/Emile Hudd (OKST) def. #25 Eduardo Nava/Henri Squire (WAKE) 6-3
2. Melios Efstathiou/Taha Baadi (WAKE) def. Brady Draheim/Luke Hammond (OKST) 7-5
3. Dominik Kellovsky/Etienne Donnet (OKST) def. Bar Botzer/Rrezart Cungu (WAKE) 7-6 (10-8)
"It was really nice to get outdoors and pick up a tough win on the road," head coach Tony Bresky said. "Doubles came down to a couple points and unfortunately it didn't go our way. We worked really hard on our fitness these last couple of weeks and it payed off in the end. We had nice wins from the bottom of our lineup and Bar saved a match point on the way to a really tough three-set win. It was a great way to start off the outdoor portion of our season."
The doubles point came down to the third court after Oklahoma picked up a 6-3 decision on court one and Wake answered back with a 7-5 win from Melios Efstathiou and Taha Baadi. Despite being down 4-1, Botzer and Rrezart Cungu rallied to take a 5-4 lead. The Cowboys tied the match at 6-6 and eventually clinched the doubles point, edging the Deacons 7-6 (8).
Oklahoma State (8-3) seemed to be in control taking the first two singles matches to take a commanding 3-0 lead but Wake Forest (9-3) rallied to win the final four singles points.
Redshirt-junior Eduardo Nava delivered the first point for the Deacons, topping Etienne Donnet 6-4, 6-2 on court five. 106th-ranked Rrezart Cungu finished just moments later with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Oscar Moraing putting the Deacons within one.
On court four, Melios Efstathiou tied the match 3-3 after defeating Mathieu Scaglia 7-5, 6-4.
All eyes turned to court one where No. 49 Botzer was locked into a gritty battle with No. 44 Matej Vocel. Vocel took the opening set in a tiebreak 7-6 (4), but Botzer was able to force a third winner-take-all set after winning the second frame 7-5. As the match approached the four-hour mark, Botzer clinched the top-20 road victory for the Deacs with another 7-5 decision.
Up next, Wake Forest will return home for a midweek doubleheader hosting Duke on Wednesday at 4 p.m. to open ACC play. The Deacons will then face in -state rival UNCG at approximately 7 p.m.
FULL RESULTS
Singles
1. #49 Bar Botzer (WAKE) def. #44 Matej Vocel (OKST) 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 7-5
2. #66 Dominik Kellovsky (OKST) def. Taha Baadi (WAKE) 6-2, 6-1
3. Emile Hudd (OKST) def. Henri Squire (WAKE) 6-2, 6-3
4. Melios Efstathiou (WAKE) def. Mathieu Scaglia (OKST) 7-5, 6-4
5. Eduardo Nava (WAKE) def. Etienne Donnet (OKST) 6-4, 6-2
6. #106 Rrezart Cungu (WAKE) def. Oscar Moraing (OKST) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
1. #48 Matej Vocel/Emile Hudd (OKST) def. #25 Eduardo Nava/Henri Squire (WAKE) 6-3
2. Melios Efstathiou/Taha Baadi (WAKE) def. Brady Draheim/Luke Hammond (OKST) 7-5
3. Dominik Kellovsky/Etienne Donnet (OKST) def. Bar Botzer/Rrezart Cungu (WAKE) 7-6 (10-8)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
123
677
Matej Vocel / 0 (44/-) [OKST]
755
#2 Singles Match
12
21
Dominik Kellovsky / 0 (66/-) [OKST]
66
#3 Singles Match
12
23
Emile Hudd / 0 [OKST]
66
#4 Singles Match
12
76
Mathieu Scaglia / 0 [OKST]
54
#5 Singles Match
12
66
Etienne Donnet / 0 [OKST]
42
#6 Singles Match
12
76
Oscar Moraing / 0 [OKST]
52
Order of Finish:
3,2,5,4,1
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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