Huskers Fall to Big 12 Rival

Tulsa, Okla. ? In the first match of the Central (V) Region Indoor Qualifier the Huskers fell to Big 12 rival, Oklahoma.  Ranked No. 61 nationally, the Huskers anticipated a competitive match against No. 60 Oklahoma, but fell short as they were defeated 4-0.

 

The tournament opened with doubles competition in which the Huskers went 1-2.  The pairing of senior Adrian Szatmary and freshman David Bendheim came away with the only win at the No. 2 spot as they defeated Oklahoma’s Andrei Daescu and Vaclav Kucera 8-3.

 

With the Sooners now ahead 1-0 after the completion of the doubles competition, the Huskers struggled to regain momentum in singles.

 

“I really tried to express to the team the importance of winning their doubles matches,” said head coach Kerry McDermott.  “With a good opponent like Oklahoma it’s very difficult to go into the singles competition already down by a point. It adds unnecessary pressure.”

 

Going into the singles competition Nebraska needed to win three matches in order to post the victory, but were unable to do so.  Since only the first three matches completed count toward the score, the Huskers’ losses at the No. 3, 5, and 6 spots gave the Sooners the points they needed to win.

 

Disappointed after the loss, McDermott said it was frustrating because the final score really did not reflect the competitiveness of the matchup.

 

“It’s disappointing because all that gets recorded is the final score,” McDermott said.  “We were winning at the No. 1, 2, and 4 spots, but since our 3, 5, and 6 spots lost we were unable to capitalize on those matches.”

 

The Huskers return to Lincoln with room for improvement before heading into the brunt of their schedule.  Next week the Huskers will travel to Fresno, Calif., where they will face Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Jan. 27, and No. 45 Fresno State on Sunday, Jan. 28.

 

Doubles  (NU 0, OU 1)

Velicka/Chavarria (OU) def. Tate/Clow (NU) 8-3

Szatmary/Bendheim (NU) def. Daescu/Kucera (OU) 8-3

McKenzie/Avdeyev (OU) def. Navarro/Van Impe (NU) 8-6  

 

Singles  (NU 0, OU 3)

No. 74 Marek Velicka (OU) vs. No. 78 Adrian Szatmary (NU) 2-6, 7-5, 0-1, unfinished

Andrei Daescu (OU) vs. Hendrik Stahmer (NU) 7-5, 2-4, unfinished

Vaclav Kucera (OU) def. Arturro Navarro (NU) 6-0, 6-2

Rob McKenzie (OU) vs. David Bendheim (NU) 6-3, 5-5, unfinished

Sergey Avdeyev (OU) def. James Clow (NU) 6-4, 6-2

Ondrej Kacmer (OU) def. Renato Melo (NU) 6-3, 6-4

 

Final Score

Oklahoma 4, Nebraska 0