Huskers Finish Solid 2005-06 Season

After leading Nebraska at the Big 12 Championships April 28, Jerry Posch and Mark Tate were named to the All-Big 12 squad in a vote of Big 12 head coaches, the league office announced. Posch and Tate are just the second Nebraska tandem to earn all-league honors since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996.

Posch and Tate joined Dinko Verzi and Markus Bergerheim as the only Huskers to earn All-Big 12 Conference honors in doubles action. Verzi and Bergerheim were selected to the team in 1998, and the following year, Verzi became only the fourth Husker ever ? and the only Husker during the Big 12 era ? to earn all-conference accolades in singles action.

Posch, a native of Perchtoldsdorf, Austria, and Tate, a native of The Woodlands, Texas, formed one of six teams selected to the all-league squad. Thirteen players were selected to the All-Big 12 singles team including Travis Helgeson of Texas, who was named the league’s player of the year. Ivan Puchkarov of Oklahoma State and Conor Pollock Texas A&M were selected as the league’s newcomer and freshman of the year, respectively, while Sam Winterbotham of Colorado and Michael Center of Texas shared coach-of-the-year honors.

Together Posch and Tate led the Huskers in doubles victories, and accounted for nearly one-third of the squad’s cumulative doubles points. While posting eight victories at the No. 1 doubles position this season, the pair recorded two Big 12 wins. Their victories were well-deserved as they worked hard to defeat the No. 51-ranked tandem of Texas A&M’s of Brett Joelson and Bryan Wooten, 9-7, and Texas’ Callum Beale and Travis Helgeson, 9-8.

Huskers Fall to Baylor in Big 12 Championships
The No. 63 Nebraska men’s tennis team fell to top-seeded Baylor, 4-0, in the first round of the Big 12 Championships, hosted by the fourth-ranked Bears at the Baylor Tennis Center, April 28.

Due to the possibility of inclement weather, singles were played first. At the top spot, senior Jerry Posch fell to Lars Poerschke, who is ranked sixth nationally, 6-1, 6-2, while junior Adrian Szatmary pushed No. 61 Matija Zgaga to three sets, falling at the No. 2 spot, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. Junior James Clow also forced 38th-ranked Michal Kokta into three sets, but lost 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 at the No. 3 spot, while freshman Renato Melo fell at No. 4 to Will Ward, 6-2, 6-1.

"It was a tough match, a tough one to lose," Head Coach Kerry McDermott said. "We played them last week and they beat us 6-1 so that gave us a feel for each player and we had a gameplan for each match, and it almost worked out for us. But (Baylor) rose to the occasion and that’s what makes them such a tough team. We had some opportunities but our guys played well. Baylor is just a better team and I wish them luck."

Nebraska finished the season with a 10-13 dual match record.

Two Huskers Earn All-Big 12 Academic Honors
Senior Jerry Posch and junior James Clow were both recognized for their outstanding academic achievements 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 Finish Strong in National Rankings
Nebraska remained in the national poll for the 15th consecutive week, jumping to No. 61 from 63rd. NU rose to 48th in the rankings for the week of March 14, marking the highest spot it has achieved during the 2005-06 season. Nebraska began the season at No. 75.

Clow Gives Consistency to Husker Lineup
Junior James Clow, with an 11-11 singles record, was a major contributor to the Husker lineup throughout the 2005-06 season. He played in each of Nebraska’s matches this spring, switching between the No. 2, 3 and 4 slots.

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 finished an impressive 7-8 in doubles through the spring campaign.

Nebraska Improves Doubles Play
Despite getting off to a slow start in the doubles column, the Huskers found a winning combination, 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. The tandem earned All-Big 12 honors for their 8-12 record. Juniors James Clow and Arturo Navarro finished a solid 7-8 through the spring while playing together. Senior Joerg Barthel and junior Adrian Szatmary produced a 7-7 record.

Tate Strong in Singles Play
Mark Tate, a native of The Woodlands, Texas, has made a major contribution to the Husker lineup by producing a 9-7 record in his first season as a Husker, opening the spring season by winning nine of his first 10 matches.

Tate came to Nebraska as a sophomore after spending a year competing for Northern Illinois, where he produced a 16-13 overall 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 Made Big Contributions to Husker Lineup
Coach Kerry McDermott added four talented newcomers 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 championships.

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 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 transferred 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 in his final season.

Nebraska Upsets No. 22 Florida State
The Nebraska men’s tennis team upset then-No. 22 Florida State, 4-3, Feb. 4, in Tallahassee, 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, 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.