TULSA, Okla. The University of Denver’s best season in NCAA Division I history came to an end with a 4-3 loss to No. 20 Oklahoma State today at Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa.
Oklahoma State (17-9) claimed the doubles point and three singles matches to record the narrow win over No. 44 Denver (18-7). The Pioneers made a strong showing in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since turning NCAA Division I in 1998. Seniors Niklas Persson (Stockholm, Sweden) and Kalle Rosen (Helsingborg, Sweden), and sophomore David Simson (Vienna, Austria) claimed singles wins for the Pioneers, who established a school record with 18 wins this season.
“We battled really hard today, but came up short,” DU head coach Danny Westerman said. “It’s a tough way to end the season, especially for our seniors who have done so much for this program. We had a great year and Coach Jeremy Wurtzman and I are really proud of this team.”
Oklahoma State earned the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 1. Dmytro Petrov and Ivan Puchkarov defeated Andrew Landwerlen (Las Cruces, N.M.) and Simson 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, and No. 3 Nathan Byrnes and Oleksandr Nedovyesov clinched the point with an 8-5 win over No. 12 Adam Holmstrom (Stockholm, Sweden) and Persson in a marquee match-up at No. 1 doubles.
Anton Bobytskyi gave the Cowboys a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Landwerlen at No. 5 singles. Rosen made it 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Igor Sobolta at No. 6. Nedovyesov made it 3-1 OSU with a narrow victory over Holmstrom at No. 1 singles.
Person cut the gap to 3-2 with a three-set win over Ivan Puchkarov at No. 2 singles and Simson tied it with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Petrov at No. 3.
Byrnes won it for Oklahoma State with a three-set win over Benny Althaus (Saarbrucken, Germany) at No. 4 singles.
Holmstrom and Persson will represent the Pioneers in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships on May 21-26 in Tulsa. Holmstrom will compete in singles and doubles with Persson.
