Huskers Return Home for Two Matches

Lincoln - The No. 66 Nebraska men's tennis team returns home this weekfor the first time since Feb. 21 when it plays host to Colorado (7-6 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference) at 2 p.m. Friday and No. 56 Indiana State (10-2 overall and 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference) at noon Saturday. If weather permits, the Huskers will play outdoors at the Cather-Pound Tennis Courts located at 17th and Vine Streets. Nebraska has played its first two home matches this season indoors at Woods Tennis Center.

This weekend's matches mark the beginning of a four-match homestand for NU, which has traveled to opponents' home courts to play its last 10 contests. Nebraska (5-10, 1-3) will play host to league foes Oklahoma, April 16 at 1 p.m., and Oklahoma State, April 18 at 2 p.m.

NU Coach Kerry McDermott labeled the next two weeks "extremely important" for the Huskers. With Big 12 competition winding down and the conference tournament approaching, Nebraska, which will take on four conference opponents in its final five games, is jockeying for a good seed. The Huskers are currently sixth in the league standings, followed closely by Colorado, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

McDermott hopes the Huskers are able to return to full strength before the upcoming slate of Big 12 matches. NU played without Lance Mills and with a weakened Kai Rieke and Juan Hamdan March 28 in a 5-2 loss to No. 32 Tulsa. Mills, who normally plays No. 2 singles for NU, was battling bronchitis all last week. Hamdan and Rieke, who played at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots against Tulsa, had the flu. McDermott said the two practiced "for about 20 minutes" last week but should practice everyday this week.

Scouting Colorado and Indiana State
The Buffaloes are coming off a third-place finish at the University of California-Irvine Invitational last week where they won three of four matches to improve from 3-5 to 7-6 on the season. The Buffaloes are led by the No. 1 doubles tandem of Dony Papadia and Boris Sepesi. The duo, who were ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation last season, are unranked but have compiled an 8-1 record this spring. Colorado currently owns the No. 7 spot in the conference standings.

Indiania State, which entered the rankings for the first time this season last week at No. 52, has won five straight and 11 of its last 12 matches. The Sycamores defeated Louisville 5-2 March 30 and are coming off dominating weekend wins over Bradley and Butler.

Senior Peter Magnuson occupies the No. 2 spot in the lineup, where he owns a team-best 18-3 singles mark. Indiana State's top six singles players all own winning records.

Nebraska Notes.....
The Huskers' Ryan Haith picked up his first career victory March 28, defeating Tulsa's Shriranga Sudhaker in three sets....NU's win over Texas Tech on Feb. 21 marked the first time it has defeated a conference foe other than Missouri since 1995....Juan Hamdan returned to the court March 17 after missing four weeks with a dislocated shoulder. Hamdan, who previously held the No. 4 spot, is not 100 percent yet but will remain in the lineup...This week marks the eighth consecutive weekend Nebraska has faced a ranked team. The Huskers are 1-7 against ranked foes. Fourteen of NU's 21 opponents are currently ranked