Huskers Look For Second Win of the Season Against No. 1 Baylor

The Nebraska men's tennis team returns to the court looking for its second straight upset of a nationally ranked team when it plays host to Big 12 foe Baylor on Friday, Jan. 28, at the Woods Tennis Center in Lincoln. The match will begin at 1 p.m. and admission is free to the public.

Picking up consecutive wins over top-20 teams will be a tough task, especially against the Bears. Baylor, the defending national team champion, enters the week ranked No. 1 in the ITA team rankings and has two players ranked among the top 50 nationally in singles. BU also boasts a top-10 doubles team.

Leading the way for the Bears are seniors Benedikt Dorsch and Benjamin Becker. Dorsch was the ITA Player of the Year last season as he finished the season ranked No. 1 in the country. Becker finished No. 9 in the ITA rankings, but won the NCAA singles title. Dorsch and Becker did not play in the fall of 2004 and were not in the current ITA rankings.

Along with Dorsch and Becker, freshman Lars Poerschke will likely play a large role for the Bears this season. Poerschke is ranked No. 11 nationally in the most recent ITA poll, the second-highest ranked freshman in the country and the highest-ranked player from the Big 12 Conference.

Also making noise for the Bears is sophomore Matija Zgaga, who is ranked 45th in the nation, the sixth-highest ranked player in the league. Zgaga and Poerschke combine to form the top-ranked tandem in the conference, as they are rated No. 7 nationally in doubles play.

Zgaga has already faced one Husker in 2005, as he and Jerry Posch faced off in the first round of the 'A' Flight singles at the Rice/Met Invitational on Friday, Jan. 21. Despite holding the No. 45 ranking, Zgaga could not get past an unranked Posch, who posted a 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 victory for his first win of the season.

Posch enters the matchup with BU with an 0-1 dual-match record in 2005 after dropping his match at No. 1 singles against No. 16 Rice. Posch, who was 5-0 in dual meets in the fall, was one of just two Huskers to fall in singles as Nebraska stunned the Owls, 4-3, to open the campaign.

Sophomore transfer Adrian Szatmary, who was on the Baylor roster last season when it won the national title, has also faced a Baylor player this year, as he fell to Dorsch, 6-0, 6-2, in the first round of the 'A' Flight singles at the Rice/Met Invitational. Szatmary is second on the squad with two victories in 2005, including a 6-4, 7-6 win over Rice's Ben Harknett at the No. 2 singles slot. Szatmary trails senior Jose Rivera, who leads Nebraska with three victories in 2005.

Friday's contest will also be a reunion for the Reckewey family, as Nebraska's Joel Reckewey and his brother, Jon Reckewey of Baylor, will be competing in the same match for the only time this season.

Huskers Gain Confidence After Upset of No. 16 Rice
The Husker men’s tennis team opened the dual-match season with one of the program’s biggest victories ever as Nebraska picked up a road win over No. 16 Rice, 4-3, Monday at the Downtown Club at the Met.

"This was a huge win for our program, possibly the biggest since I’ve been here," said Coach Kerry McDermott. "The guys really worked for this and I am proud of their effort and the fact that they rose to the occasion when they had the chance."

McDermott said Nebraska had opportunities to make the final margin larger if the Huskers had received a couple breaks in doubles play, but that the Owls picked up big points to hold on for the 1-0 lead. NU won just one doubles match with Joel Reckewey and Adrian Szatmary defeating Hoony Shin and Rodrigo Gabriel, 8-3, at the No. 2 slot.

In singles play, the Huskers came out strong and won four matches, all in straight sets. Szatmary picked up a 6-4, 7-6, victory over Ben Harknett at the No. 2 slot while Joerg Barthel downed Filip Zivojinovic, 7-6, 6-2, at the No. 3 position. James Clow earned a 6-3, 7-6, victory over Jason Mok at the No. 4 spot and Jose Rivera added a 6-2, 6-4, win over Gabriel at No. 5 singles.

"We really had some great effort and kept coming back," McDermott said. "After the doubles matches, I told the team that we were right there with Rice, that we did not play bad but Rice just picked it up a little, and if we did the same in singles, we could win it. I felt that way in the fall with our strong dual-match play, and the guys really stepped up."

Newcomers Looking to Provide Depth
Nebraska has three newcomers looking to provide a spark in dual-meet action this season.

Adrian Szatmary, a transfer from 2004 national champion Baylor, has fit in nicely for the Huskers and assumed the No. 2 slot in singles action. Szatmary led the Huskers with 10 wins in the fall campaign and is one of four Huskers to open the dual match season with a win against No. 16 Rice.

After a solid fall campaign, Szatmary was ranked in the preseason ITA poll at No. 115. He was the first Husker since 2003 to earn a national ranking. Szatmary fell out of the poll in the first regular-season ranking, but is second on the squad with two singles wins this spring.

Along with Szatmary, Marcus Karner and Karl Jones will add quality depth for the Huskers, a luxury Nebraska has not had in recent years. Karner, who earned four wins in 11 matches during fall play, could see significant action in the middle or lower portion of the lineup, according to Coach Kerry McDermott. Jones also will add depth and could see some time in the lineup in either singles or doubles play.

McDermott Earns Win No. 250
While it may have been Nebraska's biggest victory ever, the win over No. 16 Rice was also memorable for another reason. The victory was No. 250 for Coach Kerry McDermott, who has guided the Husker program since 1982. McDermott is the Huskers' all-time leader in victories and has more than doubled the previous best of 116 wins by Ed Higginbotham from 1951 to 1972.

Net Notes
The Huskers were undefeated in fall dual action at the No. 1 and No. 5 slots with 5-0 records...NU recorded a winning record 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, is one of four newcomers for Nebraska in 2004-05, along with Marcus Karner, Karl Jones and redshirt freshman Sean Coetzee...Joerg Barthel, a junior, ranks third on the team with 19 career singles victories and is first with 22 career doubles wins...Senior Joel Reckewey is the only native Nebraskan on the roster, as the other eight Huskers hail from seven different countries...After winning just one of his first seven matches last year, James Clow went on to win seven of his last 13 singles contests to end the 2004 campaign...Clow and Karner had the team's best doubles record in the fall with a 3-0 mark...Posch and Rivera played four dual meets at the No. 1 doubles position and earned a 3-1 record to tie for first in doubles victories last fall...Rivera is a three-time second-team academic All-Big 12 selection, while Reckewey also earned second-team honors in 2004.