Huskers To Play Baylor at Big 12 Championships

Lincoln, Neb. - The No. 63 Nebraska men’s tennis team is set to face No. 6 Baylor, the top seed, in the first round of the Big 12 Championships, Friday, April 28, at 7 p.m. The Bears will attempt to defend their conference championship at home as they play host to the event, along with the women’s Big 12 Championships, at the Baylor Tennis Center and the Streich Tennis Courts.

The Huskers just faced the Bears in Waco, April 23, falling 6-1. If the Huskers win, they will advance to the semifinal round Saturday, April 29 to play the winner of Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, at 7 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center.

The Huskers are hoping to pick up their first conference win, while also hoping to snap an eight-match losing streak.

The Huskers and senior Jerry Posch have faced a gauntlet of ranked opponents in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national poll, having played seven ranked opponents in eight matches.

Two Huskers Earn All-Big 12 Academic Honors
Senior Jerry Posch and junior James Clow were both recognized for their outstanding academic acheivements by earning a place on the 2006 academic All-Big 12 team.

Posch, a news-editorial major from Perchtoldsdorf, Austria, was named to the first team, which required student-athletes to have a minimum grade point average of 3.2. Clow, a business administration major from Durban, South Africa, was named to the second team for achieving a GPA between 3.0 and 3.19.

To qualify student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of his team’s scheduled contests.

Huskers Remain Strong in National Rankings
Nebraska remained in the national poll for the 13th consecutive week as it stayed steady at No. 63 this week. NU rose to 48th in the rankings for the week of March 14, marking the highest spot it has acheived during the 2005-06 season. Nebraska began the season at No. 75.

Clow Providing Consistency for Huskers
Junior James Clow, with a 11-10 singles record, has been a major contributor to the Husker lineup throughout the 2005-06 season. He has played in each of Nebraska’s matches this spring and compiled the best record on the squad, while switching between the No. 2, 3 and 4 slots.

This spring, he helped Nebraska upset then-No. 22 Florida State with a win over Chirs Westerhof in the No. 3 spot. Despite losing his first two matches, Clow came back to claim a six-match winning streak until Ivan Milivojevic of Arkansas-Little Rock stopped it with a 7-6, 6-4, win at the No. 3 spot on Feb. 26. Clow and fellow junior Arturo Navarro are an impressive 7-8 in doubles this spring.

Clow is the only returning player who produced a winning record through the 2005 spring season, and Coach Kerry McDermott said Clow the most improved player returning for the 2005-06 season. Clow was also the only Husker to earn a winning record through the fall 2005 campaign.

Nebraska Improves Doubles Play
Despite getting off to a slow start in the doubles column, the Huskers have found a winning combination recently, while compiling a 27-35 record on the season. Senior Jerry Posch and sophomore Mark Tate posted impressive wins by defeating Callum Beale and Travis Helgeson of Texas, 9-8, and Brett Joelson with Bryan Wooten of Texas A&M, 9-7. Juniors James Clow and Arturo Navarro are an solid 7-8 this spring while playing together. Senior Joerg Barthel and junior Adrian Szatmary have produced a 7-7 record.

Tate Remains Strong in Singles Play
Mark Tate, a native of The Woodlands, Texas, is making a big contribution to the Husker lineup by producing a 9-7 record on the season. Tate opened the spring season by winning nine of his first 10 matches as a Husker.

Tate came to Nebraska as a sophomore after spending a year competing for Northern Illinois, where he produced an overall 16-13 record for the Huskies. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound right-hander was a Midwest Open finalist as well as a St. Louis National Open finalist. While attending Oak Ridge High School, Tate was a state champion in 2004.

Newcomers Making Big Contributions to Husker Lineup
Coach Kerry McDermott announced four talented newcomers joined the 2005-06 roster, hoping to fill spots left by departed seniors Joel Reckewey and Jose Rivera. Renato Melo, Hendrik Stahmer, Mark Tate and Arturo Navarro came to Nebraska from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Melo came to Nebraska as a freshman from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. This spring Melo is 7-9 in singles play, recording one of Nebraska’s three conference wins in the singles column. In 2005, Melo was ranked third in Brazil in the under-18 division and participated in the National Championship tournament.

Stahmer was the 2002 Nebraska Class B singles champion while attending Beatrice High School as an exchange student in Beatrice, Neb. He is orignially from Hamburg, Germany, and won his first match of the season against Zack Warren of BYU, 6-1, 6-0, helping the Huskers to a seventh-place finish at the HEB Tournament, March 2-4. He has produced a 4-6 record overall this spring.

Navarro, a junior, has provided the Huskers with depth at doubles, compiling a 7-8 doubles record with fellow junior James Clow. Navarro transfered to Nebraska from Tennessee-Chattanooga, where he played in the No. 1 spot in singles and doubles, producing a 14-10 singles record in 2005. The Naucal, Mexico, native also earned second-team All-Southern Conference honors last season.

Nebraska Upsets No. 22 Florida State
The Nebraska men’s tennis team upset then-No. 22 Florida State, 4-3, Feb. 4, in Tallahasee, Fla., at the Scott Spiecher Tennis Center in a quad tournament hosted by the Seminoles.

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

Three Huskers Recognized For Academic Achievements
Three members of the Nebraska men’s tennis team were recognized for their outstanding academic achievements by being named to the fall 2005 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Senior Jerry Posch and junior James Clow were recognized along with former Husker Joel Reckeway. This is Posch’s third time on the list, Clow’s second and Reckewey’s fourth.

The Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll recognizes student-athletes who earned a 3.0 grade-point average or higher during the previous semester. Overall, Nebraska had 235 student-athletes named to the fall honor roll, including 35 who produced perfect 4.0 grade-point averages during the fall semester.

Huskers Complete Successful Fall Campaign
The Nebraska men’s tennis team competed in four tournaments through fall 2005, with junior James Clow producing the best record at 7-5. Junior Adrian Szatmary recorded a solid 4-4 record.

At the Denver Fall Invitational, Sept. 25, in Denver, Colo., Clow made it to the Singles Flight A consolation finals, but lost to Minnesota’s DJ Gaetz, 7-6 (8), 7-5, after losing in the first round of the Singles Flight A.

Clow was the only Husker to move past two rounds in the double-elimination tournament. Sophomore Karl Jones made it to the Singles Flight B consolation finals, but was defeated, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, by Ryan Scott.

Senior Jerry Posch and Clow competed at the 2005 Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla., Oct. 3 and 4.

Posch was defeated by Concado Henrique of Old Dominion 6-4, 7-5, 6-1, in the first round of qualifying singles. Posch and Clow were defeated in doubles action by Will Gray and Fredrico Soriano, 8-4.

The tournament featured the nation’s top collegiate tennis players including 128 singles players and 64 doubles teams split into a main draw and a qualifying draw.

At the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational held Oct. 7-9, at the Bill Moore Tennis Center in Atlanta, Ga., Clow was defeated by Andy Juc of Furman, 6-3, 6-0, in the second round of the Singles Flight A consolation bracket.

The Huskers concluded fall play at the Wilson/ITA Men’s Central Region Championships at the University of Tulsa, Oct. 20-24. Szatmary and Clow were both eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinal round of the main draw singles at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Posch was defeated in the backdraw singles in the semifinal round.