No break for Cowboys in Vegas

While most OSU students wait for spring break, the Cowboy tennis team will travel to a popular break destination a week early.

The Cowboys will travel from Stillwater to Las Vegas to face Hawaii (6-4) on at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The Cowboys will also play University of Nevada, Las Vegas (7-6) on Friday at 1 p.m.

Both matches will be played at the Frank and Vicki Fertitta Tennis Complex.

Coach James Wadley said he hopes this week will help his team get back on track.

"We've played a real tough schedule," Wadley said. "We haven't been able to play a lot of matches because of weather and because of injuries."

Wadley said there isn't going to be much leisure time for the team, but he is sure the team will have time to enjoy the experience.

"Obviously we're going to look around and see things," Wadley said. "That's why we did this trip. It's a little bit for recruiting to give the kids one nice trip and also try to get some sunshine somewhere."

Senior Oleksandr Nedovyesov said he is looking forward to see the city that inspired "The Hangover."

"It feels like we got another week of spring break," Nedovyesov said.

The last time the Cowboys (3-4) played Hawaii they lost 4-3 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in May.

"As a team it was kind of upsetting," Nedovyesov said. "We want to beat them and every single next match is very important to us. I just want to improve like everyone else on our team. We want to improve our record."

Although the Cowboys have a losing a record, they have faced tough opponents. Wadley said he believes his team needs some victories to gain confidence.

"We need to beat somebody," Wadley said. "All the matches we lost we haven't been favored (to win) necessarily. We'd like to sneak up on somebody."

Nedovyesov also said the team could benefit from a winning streak.

"If we were to win the next three matches we would get the confidence where it needs to be," Nedovyesov said. "Everybody wants to win."

While the players need a confidence boost of their own, Wadley said he is confident his younger players will live up to their expectations.

"(The younger players) are getting better," Wadley said. "I'm expecting a lot of good things from them."