Huskers fall to No. 17 Texas A&M 6-1 in home opener

Lincoln -- In its first home match of the season, the No. 63 Nebraska men's tennis team lost to No. 17 Texas A&M 6-1 Friday night at Woods Tennis Center.Nebraska, which fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference, received its lone win courtesy of junior Jorge Abos Sanchez at No. 3 singles. Sanchez defeated A&M's Cody Hubbell 7-5, 6-4.

Despite the loss, NU Coach Kerry McDermott found several positives for the Huskers. Nebraska had opportunities to nab victories at the No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 spots, McDermott said. And No. 2 singles player Kai Rieke and No. 5 singles player Juan Hamdan pushed their opponents to three-set matches. Rieke lost to Dumitru Caradima 7-6, 3-6, 7-5, and Hamdan was defeated 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 by the Aggie's Ryan Newport.

Friday also marked the return of junior Lance Mills, the Huskers' No. 2 singles player in 1999, to the NU lineup. Mills, who had been sidelined by a foot injury the last three weeks, lost in straight sets at the No. 4 spot but played well for his first match back, McDermott said.

"Texas A&M is a great team," McDermott said. "We knew that we would have to play an unbelievable match and that they would have to be down a little bit if we were going to get the win. I think one thing we really need to work on is getting started early and so we can get that first set."

Nebraska recorded one win in doubles play. Abos Sanchez and Hamdan defeated Caradima and Hubbell 8-5.

The Huskers return to action Sunday when they play host to Creighton at 9 a.m. McDermott expectsa competitive match for the in-state rivals.

"Creighton is an improving team," McDermott said. "We've beaten them the last couple of years, but they're a team you have to watch out for. We won't look past them."

No. 63 Nebraska (1-2)	1
No. 17 Texas A&M (1-0)	6

Singles
Match	Score
No. 1 Shuon Madden (A&M) def. Adnan Hadzialic (NU)	6-2, 7-6
No. 2 Dumitru Caradima (A&M) def. Kai Rieke (NU)	7-6, 3-6, 7-5
No. 3 Jorge Abos Sanchez (A&M) def. Cody Hubbell (A&M)	7-5, 6-4
No. 4 Keith From (A&M) def. Lance Mills (NU)	7-5, 6-1
No. 5 Ryan Newport (A&M) def. Juan Hamdan (NU)	6-7, 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 Jarin Skube (A&M) def. Andrew Wiese (NU)	7-5, 6-2
Doubles
Match	Score
No. 1 Madden/Skube (A&M) def. Rieke/Ryan Haith (NU)	8-4
No. 2 Abos Sanchez/Hamdan (NU) def. Caradima/Hubbell (A&M)	8-5
No. 3 Gonzalo Anderson/Juan Aramburo (A&M) def. Hadzialic/Wiese (NU)	8-5