Huskers Upset No. 22 Florida State

Tallahassee, Fla. - The No. 75 Nebraska men's tennis team upset No. 22 Florida State, 4-3, Saturday in Tallahasee, Fla.,at the ScottSpiecherTennisCenter in a quad tournament hosted by the Seminoles. 

The win marks the first time the Huskers have upset a team ranked in the top 25 since Nebraska defeated then-No. 16 Rice on Jan. 22, 2005. 

After the Huskers played FSU, they turned around to play No. 53 Penn and lost, 4-3.

Against the Seminoles, Nebraska dropped the doubles point before senior Jerry Posch helped the Huskers make a comeback by defeating No. 49 Sam Chang at the No. 2 singles spot, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.  Junior James Clow carried that momentum into his match, beating Chris Westerhof 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, in the No. 3 spot.

Both of the Huskers' newcomers, Mark Tate and Renato Melo, claimed victories for Nebraska.  Tate downed Chris Cloer in the No. 5 spot, 6-1, 6-4, while Melo beat Jason Hood at No. 6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

"This was a huge win for our program," Coach Kerry McDermott said. "We really needed this win right now.  It felt really good and was a total team effort.  We knew we were going to have a good team this year, but you have to prove it with results.  This will give us a lot of confidence and shows that we can find ways to win."

Against the Quakers, the Huskers lost the doubles point with the only win coming in the No. 1 spot where Posh and Tate defeated Jason Pinsky and Joseph Lok, 9-8.

In singles action, Posh won again, defeating Mikhail Bekker, 6-2, 7-5, while Clow beat Jonathan Boym, 7-5, 6-4.  Tate also claimed his second singles win of the day with a win over Jimmy Fairbanks.

"This was a very good match that really came down to the wire," McDermott said. "We're disappointed, but we competed well and fought hard.  We really need to keep getting better in doubles."

The Huskers play their first home match on Feb. 17, when Drake comes to Lincoln to face the Huskers at the NebraskaTennisCenter at 6 p.m.

Nebraska 4, Florida State 3
Singles
1. Abougzir (No. 72) def. Szatmary 6-1, 6-4
2. Posch def. Chang (No. 49) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
3. Clow def. Westerhof 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
4. Skycut def. Barthel 6-3, 6-4
5. Tate def. Cloer 6-1, 6-4
6. Melo def. Hood 6-1, 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1. Abougizar/Westerhof def. Posch/Tate 7-5
2. Bailey/Skycut def. Clow/Szatmary 3-1
3. Cloer/Chang def. Barthel/Jones 7-1

Penn 4, Nebraska 3
Singles
1. Pinsky def. Szatmary 6-3, 6-0
2. Posch def. Bekker 6-2, 7-5
3. Clow def. Boym 7-5, 6-4
4. Lok def. Barthel 6-2, 6-3
5. Tate def. Fairbanks 6-3, 6-4
6. Fox def. Melo 6-4, 7-5      

Doubles
1. Posch/Tate def. Pinsky/Lok 9-8
2. Clow/Szatmary def. Boym/Bekker 3-1
3. Fox/O'Gara def. Jones/Barthel 8-2