Huskers Fall to No. 44 Oklahoma

Norman, Okla. - The No. 52 Nebraska men's tennis team fell, 6-1, to No. 44 Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., Sunday afternoon, in its second Big 12 Conference match of the season.

The Huskers (10-6, 0-2) lost the doubles point, but freshman Renato Melo and junior Adrian Szatmary managed to grab a 9-7 win from Matt Long and Ryan Thomas in the No. 3 doubles spot.

Melo also recorded the Huskers' only singles win of the day, defeating Thomas in the No. 6 singles spot, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.  Senior Jerry Posch forced No. 84 Marek Velicka into three sets just two days after upsetting No. 23 Daniel Byrnes of Oklahoma State.  Posch fell to Velicka 6-1, 6-7, 6-1.  Szatmary sent his match into three sets as well in the No. 2 spot, eventually falling to Alexei Ivanov, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. 

"This was a really competitive match," said Coach Kerry McDermott. "Singles were really competitive, but everyone played a little bit better when they needed to and fought hard.  Now we just need to go back to work this week."

The Huskers return to action March 31 when they take a break from Big 12 Conference play to face Denver in Denver, Colo., at 2 p.m.   

Doubles
1.  Ivanov/Velicka (OU) def. Posch/Tate (NU), 8-4
2. Chavarria/Garrison (OU) def. Clow/Navarro (NU), 8-6
3.  Melo/Szatmary (NU) def. Long/Thomas (OU), 9-7

Singles
1.  No. 84 Marek Velicka (OU) def. Jerry Posch (NU), 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-1
2.  Alexei Ivanov (OU) def. Adrian Szatmary (NU), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2
3.  Tommy Garrison (OU) def. James Clow (NU), 6-3, 6-4
4.  Sergey Avdeyev (OU) def. Mark Tate (NU), 6-3, 6-3
5.  Lee Gregg (OU) def. Hendrik Stahmer (NU), 6-3, 6-1
6.  Renato Melo (NU) def. Ryan Thomas (OU), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4