Huskers Down No. 61 UTA, 4-3

Arlington, Texas ? The Nebraska men’s tennis team snapped a four-match losing streak with a 4-3 road victory against No. 61 Texas-Arlington Saturday at the UTA Tennis Center. With its third win over a ranked team this season, Nebraska improved to 9-11 overall while the Mavericks fell to 13-7.

 

Nebraska Coach Kerry McDermott was pleased with the effort and believes the Huskers can use the win to gain momentum heading into the final week of the regular season.

 

“As a team, we played probably the most complete match in a quite a while,” McDermott said. “After a tough loss Saturday, we continued to battle and worked hard for the win. I was pleased we came away successful and hopefully we can take this and continue to respond next week against Oklahoma and then in the Big 12 Championships.”

 

The Huskers came out strong and picked up the first point by winning the bottom two doubles positions. The Huskers won the doubles point for the second time this weekend and just the seventh time this season.

 

Gerhard Posch and Ryan Jay started the Huskers’ winning ways with an 8-4 victory over Ian Vazquez-Rowe and Petri van Rensburg at No. 3 doubles before Jose Rivera and Joerg Barthel closed out doubles play with a 9-7 victory over Niels Buksik and Sandy Farguharson at the No. 2 slot. 

 

In singles play, Posch pushed David Corrie, ranked No. 40 nationally in singles play, at the No. 1 spot before falling 7-6, 6-3, but Barthel picked up the slack with a tight 6-4, 7-6, win over Nathan McGregor at the No. 2 position. Barthel joined Joel Reckewey for the team lead by picking up his ninth singles win of the season and fourth win in his last six matches.

 

Nebraska secured the victory with wins at the Nos. 4 and 5 singles slots. Rivera picked up his first victory in eight matches when Buksik defaulted with an injury. Rivera led Buksik, 6-5, in the first set of the No. 4 singles match before the Maverick had to retire. Freshman James Clow then sealed the team victory with a 6-3, 6-1, straight-set win over Ian Vazquez-Rowe at the No. 5 spot.

 

With the match already decided, Reckewey nearly added to the Huskers’ total before falling in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 10-8, to Petri van Rensburg at the No. 6 position. Jeff Nabity also fell to Farguharson, 6-1, 6-4, at the No. 3 position.

 

Nebraska returns to action in the regular-season finale on Saturday, April 17, against the Oklahoma Sooners, who will play host to the Big 12 Championships on April 23-25.

 

FINAL SCORE: Nebraska 4, No. 61 Texas-Arlington 3

April 11, 2004 ? Arlington, Texas

 

Doubles

No. 1    Nathan McGregor/David Corrie (UTA) def. Justin Junck/Joel Reckewey (NU), 8-5

No. 2    Jose Rivera/Joerg Barthel (NU) def. Niels Buksik/Sandy Farguharson (UTA), 9-7

No. 3    Gerhard Posch/Ryan Jay (NU) def. Ian Vazquez-Rowe/Petri van Rensburg (UTA), 8-4

 

Singles

No. 1    No. 40 David Corrie (UTA) def. Gerhard Posch (NU), 7-6, 6-3

No. 2    Joerg Barthel (NU) def. Nathan McGregor (UTA), 6-4, 7-6

No. 3    Sandy Farguharson (UTA) def. Jeff Nabity (NU), 6-1, 6-4

No. 4    Jose Rivera (NU) def. Niels Buksik (UTA), 6-5, default (inj.)

No. 5    James Clow (NU) def. Ian Vazquez-Rowe (UTA), 6-3, 6-1

No. 6    Petri van Rensburg (UTA) def. Joel Reckewey (NU), 4-6, 7-5, 10-8