Men's Tennis Heads to Big 12 Championships

Lincoln -- The Nebraska men's tennis team heads to Norman, Okla., for the 2004 Big 12 Men's Tennis Championships April 30 through May 2. Nebraska begins the tournament with a 3 p.m. contest on April 30 against top-seeded Baylor.

Oklahoma will play host to the league tournament at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center, a state-of-the-art complex completed in 2001. The conference women's tennis championships will also take place at the facility the same weekend, while OU also plays host to the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships that weekend.

Nebraska looks to get back on the winning track at the conference meet after dropping its regular-season finale at Oklahoma, 6-1, on April 17. NU is just 3-7 in its last 10 matches overall, with seven contests against ranked opponents (2-5 record).

The Huskers hope to pick up their first win at the conference meet since earning a 4-3 victory over Texas Tech in the first round of the 1999 Big 12 Championships. Since the formation of the Big 12, NU owns a 1-7 record at the league tournament, including 1-1 vs. Texas Tech, 0-1 vs. Colorado, 0-2 vs. Baylor and 0-3 vs.Texas.

The Huskers will take on second-ranked Baylor in the first round of the Big 12 Championships. Nebraska fell to the Bears, 7-0, on April 2 in the only regular-season meeting between the teams. The Huskers were knocked out of the Big 12 Championships by Baylor in 2003 and in 1997, and have lost five straight at the league tournament.

The Bears head into the weekend riding a 15-match winning streak while sporting a 23-2 spring record. BU won the Big 12 regular-season title and earned the top seed as the only undefeated team in the conference (7-0).

Baylor has five players in the ITA singles rankings, including No. 3 Benedikt Dorsch, who owns a 19-5 dual meet record this spring. Benjamin Becker (20-4) is ranked 15th, while Matias Marin is No. 106, Ivor Lovrak is No. 119 and Matija Zgaga is No. 123. The Bears also boast three doubles teams ranked in the top 35, including Becker and Marin, who own a 15-1 spring record with 11 straight victories.

Barthel Gets Rolling at Right Time
Sophomore Joerg Barthel found mixed results early this season, but has started to turn the corner down the stretch. Barthel moved into a tie for the team lead with nine singles wins after picking up a pair against New Mexico State (April 10) and Texas-Arlington (April 11). Barthel was the only Husker to win every match in singles and doubles on the weekend.

Barthel has won four of his last seven singles matches and improved to 3-1 at No. 1 singles with a straight-set victory over New Mexico State's Ben Archer-Clowes. He is 9-12 overall this spring in singles play and has joined teammate Jose Rivera for the Huskers' best doubles record at 10-8.

Doubles or Nothing
The Huskers struggled in doubles play early this year, winning the initial point of the match just one time in their first eight duals and only five times in 21 matches overall. But Nebraska looks like it may have turned the corner after playing New Mexico State and then-No. 61 Texas-Arlington. Nebraska won the doubles point in each match, taking back-to-back doubles points for the only time this season.

McDermott Closes in on No. 250
Nebraska Coach Kerry McDermott, who is in his 23rd season guiding the Huskers, has been a stabilizing force for the NU men's tennis team. Under his tutelage, Nebraska has posted at least 10 dual victories 14 times, including four times in the past eight years. Last season, he helped Nebraska to a .500 regular-season record for the first time since 1998.

McDermott is closing in on a milestone, as he needs just one victory to reach career win No. 250. He has reached his last two milestone marks against conference opponents, including win No. 150 against Oklahoma State (1993) and win No. 200 against Colorado (1999).

With 249 wins, McDermott has more than doubled the next closest person on the NU coaching chart (Ed Higginbotham, 116 wins from 1951 to 1972).

Quick Look at the Huskers
**Joerg Barthel -- The sophomore returned as one of NU's top players and continued his steady career by tying for the team lead with nine singles wins in 2004 while playing mainly at No. 1 and 2 singles. He is also one of the Huskers' top doubles players, teaming with Jose Rivera for a team-best 10 wins.

**Gerhard Posch -- Talented newcomer immediately emerged as one of NU's top players. He fared well in his first collegiate season by tying for the team lead with nine singles victories, including a team-high seven wins at the No. 1 slot.

**Jose Rivera -- Coming of a tremendous fall campaign, he came out strong early in the year but struggled down the stretch. He still managed eight singles victories mostly in the middle of the lineup, and teams with Barthel to form one of the top duos in the region.

**Jeff Nabity -- One of only two seniors on the squad, he played more than any other point in his career and found some success at the bottom of the singles lineup.

**James Clow -- Freshman immediately won a starting spot and has not let up while finishing with eight singles wins, including a 5-3 mark at No. 4 singles.

**Joel Reckewey -- One of two native Nebraskans in the lineup ? along with Jeff Nabity ? he continued to improve after a strong fall, finishing with nine singles victories and five doubles wins. He had a team-best six-match winning streak from March 19-30.

**Justin Junck -- After a solid fall campaign, freshman was productive for the Huskers in doubles action, recording five wins while playing in nearly every match.

**Ryan Jay -- The senior did not play singles at all for the Huskers but proved valuable in doubles where he and Gerhard Posch went 6-6 on the season for the second-best doubles record on the team.

Huskers Earn Academic Honors
The Nebraska men's tennis team has been among the top Husker squads in terms of academic achievement since Coach Kerry McDermott took over the program more than 20 years ago. Nebraska has produced similar outstanding results in the classroom this season, as three Huskers were named to academic All-Big 12 first or second team.

Senior Ryan Jay led NU by earning his first academic all-conference accolade when he garnered first-team honors, while juniors Joel Reckewey and Jose Rivera were each second-team selections. It is the third straight season Rivera has been named to the second team, while Reckewey is a second-time recipient after earning first-team honors last year.

Seniors Making Final Appearance
Nebraska will say goodbye to a pair of seniors, as Jeff Nabity and Ryan Jay will exhaust their eligibility this spring. Nabity and Jay have combined for 12 singles wins and 17 doubles victories over the past three seasons. Nabity set a personal high with five singles wins this season while Jay has nearly equaled his career total of doubles wins (8) with a 6-7 record this year.

Staying the Course
With just eight players available, the Huskers have not made many lineup changes this season. In fact, only seven players have seen action in singles play with Joerg Barthel, Gerhard Posch, James Clow and Jose Rivera playing singles in every match this spring. Barthel, Posch and Joel Reckewey lead the team with nine singles victories apiece, while Clow and Rivera each own eight wins.

In doubles play, NU has used nine different tandems, although three duos were together for at least 12 matches (out of 21).

Newcomers Raising Expectations
Nebraska had several newcomers begin to make their mark on the program in their first season with the Huskers, including sophomore Gerhard Posch and freshmen James Clow and Justin Junck.

Posch and Clow joined the Huskers in January just in time for the start of second semester classes and the beginning of the spring season. The pair has combined for 17 of NU's 50 singles victories while playing singles in every match. Posch has seen action primarily at the top slot in singles play while Clow has been in the lineup mainly at the No. 4 or 5 slot.

Junck, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, has also made his presence felt as he jumped into the Huskers' doubles rotation after a solid fall campaign. Junck has teamed with Joel Reckewey and Joerg Barthel while competing in 19 dual meets during his rookie year.

In the Polls
Nebraska enters the Big 12 Championships as one of just three league teams not currently ranked in the latest ITA poll, along with Texas Tech and Colorado. Both NU and TTU have been ranked at least once this season.

The Huskers came in at No. 75 in the Feb. 10 poll after splitting a pair of road matches against ranked foes a week earlier. The ranking was the first since 2002 when NU finished the year at No. 72.

Nebraska has not had a ranked individual or doubles team this season. The last Husker to earn a national ranking was Lance Mills when he finished the 2002 season ranked No. 99 after reaching the second round of the NCAA Championships.

NU Tackles Daunting Schedule
The Huskers finished the regular season with a 9-12 record after facing a schedule laced with 12 ranked teams, including five among the top 40 nationally. In fact, seven of the Huskers' final 10 matches in 2004 were against ranked squads. NU went just 3-7 during that stretch but two of the victories were against ranked teams.

Overall, the Huskers picked up three wins against ranked teams in 2004, all on the road. The highest-ranked team the Huskers knocked off was No. 61 Texas-Arlington, 4-3, in Arlington. NU also defeated No. 68 Idaho, 6-1, at the Boise State Invitational and No. 75 Wichita State, 5-2, in Wichita.

Huskers Sign Baker for 2004-05
Jack Baker, who is ranked in the top 60 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) world junior rankings, signed a National Letter-of-Intent to attend the University of Nebraska and join the men’s tennis team for the 2004-05 season, Nebraska men’s tennis coach Kerry McDermott announced April 19.

Baker has ranked as high as No. 54 in the ITF world junior combined rankings in 2004 after ending last year ranked No. 81 in singles. Baker has moved into the top 60 in the ITF each of the past two years, reaching as high as No. 59 in the world in singles play.

Since moving into the Boys 18 division in 2003, Baker has reached the quarterfinals in tournament play five times in singles action, including reaching the finals at the 2003 British Nationals and the 2003 Malaysian International. In doubles play, Baker reached the quarterfinals of five tournaments over the past two years with his highest finish coming at the 2003 British Nationals, where he and Matthew Brown placed second. The tandem entered the tournament seeded sixth, but upset the top-seeded duo in the semifinals.

As a 16-year-old in 2002, Baker ranked No. 5 in Great Britain and No. 14 in the European Tennis Association 16U division. He won the 2002 Malta World Ranking Tournament and reached at least the quarterfinals of four tournaments in singles play and four in doubles play.

Net Notes
After winning just one of his first seven matches, freshman James Clow has turned it around and now owns seven wins in his last 13 singles contest...the No. 6 singles slot has provided the most wins (12) this year and the best winning percentage (.571, 12-9)...Joerg Barthel has been consistent winning at least eight singles matches so far in each of his first two seasons (9 in 2004, 8 in 2003).