Huskers Drop Matchup with Razorbacks

Fayetteville, Ark. --- The Nebraska men’s tennis team dropped its first match of the season Sunday, as it was swept by No. 39 Arkansas, 7-0, at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Ark.

Despite falling to the Razorbacks in all seven matches, Coach Kerry McDermott liked the competitiveness the Huskers (1-1) showed in NU’s first road trip. Nebraska defeated Southwest Missouri State on Saturday in the season opener.

“We are always disappointed in losing, but there were some positives as we competed well this weekend,” McDermott said. “Arkansas came up big when it needed to. We had several close first sets (in singles) that we didn’t get, and against a ranked team like this, when it gets the first set, it is hard to catch up. But I liked how we handled the situation and we continued to compete hard, even when we were down.”

Nebraska dropped the doubles point when as Arkasnas swept in all three matches. In singles play, NU’s Gerhard Posch and Joerg Barthel continued their solid play this weekend, as they pushed two of the top players in the country to the limit. Posch, starting his second straight match at the No. 1 singles spot for NU, fell to 14th-ranked Adrians Zguns, 6-4, 6-3, while Barthel, the Huskers’ top returnee, fell 6-4, 6-4, to No. 50 Nathan Price.

At the No. 3 position, newcomer James Clow forced Rohan Gajjar to a tiebreaker in the first set before falling 7-6 (3), 7-5, while junior Joel Reckewey nearly pulled out the first set against Imraan Ismail at the No. 6 slot. Reckewey forced a tiebreaker before seeing Ismail pull away for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory. Senior Jeff Nabity and junior Jose Rivera also each fell in straight sets at the Nos. 4 and 5 spots, respectively.

Nebraska returns to Lincoln to train for the next 13 days before taking on Wichita State on Saturday, Feb. 7, in Wichita, Kan. The match with the Shockers is scheduled to start at Noon.  

FINAL SCORE: Arkansas 7, Nebraska 0
Saturday, Jan. 25, 2004
Dills Indoor TennisCenter
Fayetteville, Ark.

Singles
1. No. 14 Adrians Zguns (UA) def. Gerhard Posch (NU), 6-4, 6-3
2. No. 50 Nathan Price (UA) def. Joerg Barthel (NU), 6-4, 6-4
3. Rohan Gajjar (UA) def. James Clow (NU), 7-6 (3), 7-5
4. Matt Simpson (UA) def. Jeff Nabity (NU), 6-1, 6-0
5. Matt Roberts (UA) def. Jose Rivera (NU), 6-4, 6-0
6. Imraan Ismail (UA) def. Joel Reckewey (NU), 7-6 (4), 6-4

Doubles
1. Matt Simpson/Nathan Price (UA) def. Jose Rivera/Joerg Barthel (NU), 8-5
2. Adrians Zguns/Rohan Gajjar (UA) def. Gerhard Posch/James Clow (NU), 8-5
3. Matt Roberts/Imraan Ismail (UA) def. Justin Junck/Joel Reckewey (NU), 8-4