Nebraska Falls to Colorado, 4-3

Lincoln, Neb. --- The No. 66 Nebraska men’s tennis team dropped its third straight Big 12 match of the season as it fell to No. 45 Colorado in a tightly contested match, 4-3, Tuesday at the NU Varsity Courts. With the loss, the Huskers dropped to 9-10 on the season and 0-3 in the league while CU improved to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12.

Colorado did not pick up the victory without some difficulty, as the Huskers battled to the last point, coach Kerry McDermott said.

"It’s tough to lose when it’s 4-3, and it’s great when you win 4-3,” McDermott said. “The effort was definitely there, I can’t fault anyone for that. I felt like everyone battled all day and tried to get back into it. We got it back even and Adrian (Szatmary) was the deciding match. I love having him in that position because he battles so hard and gives it everything he has.”

Nebraska got off to a slow start as it was swept in doubles play, an area McDermott felt was key to the Huskers’ success Tuesday. “I told the guys before the match that I thought we were pretty even with Colorado in singles play and that it could come down to the doubles, and it did,” McDermott said.

Trialing 1-0, the Huskers went down by two points with a loss at No. 5 singles before they began a comeback at the top of the lineup. At No. 1 singles, junior Jerry Posch led the way as he easily pulled ahead for a solid 6-4, 6-4, victory over Jan Zelezny. It was Posch’s fourth win in his last five matches and first this season in conference action.

Following Posch’s victory, CU pulled within one point of the victory as the Buffs got a convincing 6-4, 6-1, win by Marek Dvorak over Jose Rivera at the No. 4 slot. It was just Rivera’s eighth loss of the season in 23 matches, snapping a four-match win streak last week.

Needing to win its final three matches, the Huskers continued battling with junior Joerg Barthel picking up the biggest comeback of the day. Despite playing with an injury and trailing 1-0 after the first set, Barthel rallied to take the next two sets for an 0-6, 6-4, 6-3, victory over Chad Tsuda at the No. 6 position. Tsuda came into the match with an 8-2 dual record and was the only Buff with at least seven dual match wins this spring.

NU continued climbing toward a victory as sophomore James Clow regained control in the third set and held on for the point at No. 2 singles with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, victory over Peter Bjork. The Nebraska win tied the match at 3-all with Szatmary’s contest against Marko Bundalo becoming the deciding point. Szatmary took the early lead with a 7-6 win in the first set but fell behind early in the second frame before Bundalo tied it at one set apiece with a 6-3 win. Bundalo continued to hold the momentum in the decisive third set and moved to a 4-2 lead before Szatmary tied it at 4-4. But Bundalo made one final push to grab the win and end the match.

“Adrian is tough all the time and when it comes down to the match being on the line, he is our go-to guy,” McDermott said. “He got himself in position to come back at the end, but you have to give the other guy credit because he hung in there and got the job done at the end. But I would want Adrian in that situation every time.”

Nebraska will spend the rest of the week on the practice courts before playing host to No. 59 Oklahoma on April 9. The match between the Huskers and Sooners will begin at 1 p.m. at the NU Varsity Courts.

No. 45 Colorado 4, No. 66 Nebraska 3
Lincoln, Neb. --- March 29, 2005 --- NU Varsity Courts

 

Doubles
No. 1    Tsuda/Digliodo (CU) def. Posch/Reckewey (NU), 8-4
No. 2    Bundalo/Bjork (CU) def. Rivera/Barthel (NU), 9-7
No. 3    Dvorak/Zelezny (CU) def. Szatmary/Clow (NU), 8-5

Singles
No. 1    Jerry Posch (NU) def. Jan Zelezny (CU), 6-4, 6-4
No. 2    Marko Bundalo (CU) def. Adrian Szatmary (NU), 6-7, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3    James Clow (NU) def. Peter Bjork (CU), 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
No. 4    Marek Dvorak (CU) def. Jose Rivera (NU), 6-4, 6-1
No. 5    Marcos Digliodo (CU) def. Joel Reckewey (NU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 6    Joerg Barthel (NU) def. Chad Tsuda (CU), 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 1, 4, 6, 3, 2