Huskers nearly upset Kansas, fall 4-3

Lawerence -- The No. 70 Nebraska men's tennis team, playing against a ranked team for the fifth-consecutive weekend, lost 4-3 to No. 40 Kansas Saturday night in Lawerence, Kan. With the loss, the Huskers fell to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference.

NU started quickly against the Jayhawks (6-1), taking the doubles point thanks to victories from No. 1 doubles tandem Dinko Verzi and Andrew Wiese and the No. 2 doubles team of Jorge Abos Sanchez and Lance Mills. Verzi also had a good day in singles play. The Hamm, Germany native upset KUs Luis Uribe -- the ninth-ranked player in the country -- 6-1, 4-6, 6-4,

No. 3 singles player Jorge Abos Sanchez also picked up a win for NU, posting a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ed Dus.

Nebraska dropped matches at the No. 2 and No. 4 spots. Lance Mills lost to the Jayhawks' Kenny Powell 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2, and No. 4 singles player Roshan Fernando fell toKU's Alex Barragan 6-2, 6-2.

Holding a 3-2 lead with only the No. 5 and No. 6 matches left to go, Nebraska need one win to steal the victory from Kansas. But the Huskers couldn't hang on. NU's Kai Rieke lost a tough three-game match, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to Quentin Blakeney at No. 5 singles, and No. 6 singles player Andrew Wiese fell to Rodrigo Echagaray 6-4, 6-2.

The Huskers return to action March 14 at 1 p.m. when they travel to Northeast Louisiana.

Singles
No. 1 Dinko Verzi (NU) def. Luis Uribe (KU) ....................6-1, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2 Kenny Powell (KU) def. Lance Mills (NU)................6-1, 6-3
No. 3 Jorge Abos Sanchez (NU) def. Ed Dus (KU)...........6-3, 6-2
No. 4 Alex Barragan (KU) def. Roshan Fernando (NU)......6-2, 6-2
No. 5 Quentin Blakeney (KU) def. Kai Rieke (NU)............6-4, 2-6, 6-4
No. 6 Rodrigo Echagaray (KU) def. Andrew Wiese (NU)....6-4, 6-2

Doubles
No. 1 Verzi/Wiese (NU) def. Uribe/Dus (KU)..........................8-5
No. 2 Mills/Abos Sanchez (NU) def. Powell/Barragan (KU)......8-4
No. 3 Echagaray/Blakeney (KU) def. Rieke/Ryan Haith (NU)...8-6