Huskers Open 2005 Campaign at Rice/Met Invitational

Coming off a 9-13 campaign in 2004, the Nebraska men's tennis team opens the 2005 season on the road this weekend when the Huskers begin competition at the Rice/Met Invitational on Friday, Jan. 21 in Houston. The tournament continues through the weekend with the finals set for Sunday afternoon.

"We are going to use this weekend as a chance to see where we are as a team," NU Coach Kerry McDermott said. "Everyone came back from holiday break refreshed and in great shape. They are ready to go."

McDermott, who is entering his 24th season guiding the Huskers, will take a full squad to Houston for this weekend's tournament.

Seniors Joel Reckewey and Jose Rivera join juniors Joerg Barthel and Jerry Posch to push the Huskers as they face some of the top competition in the country in Nebraska's first weekend of action. James Clow rounds out the group of five returning letterwinners who will make the trip while newcomers Adrian Szatmary, Marcus Karner and Karl Jones are set for their Husker debut. The newcomers as well as the returnees will be pushed to the limit against a strong field, McDermott said.

"There are always about 15 of the top 100 players in the country at this tournament, so there will be plenty of competition from the start," McDermott said. "We will be challenged, but I have told the guys that this is an opportunity for us to get out strong and make a statement early in the season."

Following the invitational, the Huskers remain in Houston for their first dual match of the season. Nebraska will take on tournament host Rice on Monday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. The Owls enter the season ranked No. 16 in the ITA poll despite not having a player in the individual singles or doubles rankings.

"It is tough that we are facing one of the top teams in the country in a dual right after the tournament, but we are already there and we always want to play the best teams we can find," McDermott said. "The guys will have a chance to see where they stand early in the year and see what they need to do to get to the top. Everyone has come back strong and picked up from where they were in the fall, so we might surprise some people."

Huskers Show Improvements During Fall Play
With a good mix of returnees and newcomers, Coach Kerry McDermott had hopes of a solid performance last fall in preparation for the 2005 campaign. Those expectations were easily met as the Huskers posted great individual results across the lineup.

Leading the charge in the fall was junior Jerry Posch, who returns this spring looking to retain his No. 1 standing among the Huskers in singles play. Posch owned the team's best fall singles record at 9-3, including reaching the round of 16 of the singles main draw at the ITA Region V Championships.

Along with Posch, newcomer Adrian Szatmary finished one match from the quarterfinals at the region tournament and was a consolation finalist at the season-ending Milwaukee Tennis Classic. Szatmary, who was ranked in the ITA's top 125 in the fall, produced a 10-5 singles mark in his first semester as a Husker. The first-year transfer from Baylor was one of four Huskers with at least seven wins last fall.

Nebraska seniors Joel Reckewey and Jose Rivera each posted 7-4 singles marks in the fall, combining for a 7-0 dual match record. Reckewey saw solid results at the regional tournament as he posted three straight wins to reach the quarterfinals of the consolation draw.

Facing Top Competition
Nebraska enters the first weekend of the season facing some of the best competition in the country, but it will not be the last time. The Huskers are set to face No. 16 Rice in their first dual match of the season on Monday, Jan. 24, and could face No. 42 Boise State (Boise Tournament) and No. 60 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (H.E.B. Tournament) in non-conference play.

In league action, the Huskers will face one of the toughest lineups in the country, as all seven other teams are ranked in the top 75. Nebraska has league matchups against No. 1 Baylor, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 32 Oklahoma State, No. 36 Texas, No. 53 Texas Tech, No. 66 Oklahoma, and No. 74 Colorado.

Net Notes
The Huskers were undefeated in fall dual action at the No. 1 and No. 5 singles slots with 5-0 records at each position ... NU recorded a winning mark at five singles slots in dual meets, with the only non-winning position being the No. 3 slot (2-3) ... Adrian Szatmary, a transfer from 2004 national champion Baylor, was ranked No. 118 in the fall preseason ranking, but has fallen out of the rankings in the first poll of the 2005 regular season ... Joerg Barthel, a junior, ranks first with 22 career doubles wins and is third on the team with 17 career singles victories.