Huskers to Open Competition at New Indoor Home

After a weekend off, the No. 66 Huskers return to competition with their first home matches of the season in the new NebraskaTennisCenter.  The Huskers are set to face two Central Region teams, competing against in-state rival, Creighton, on Friday, Feb. 16, at 2 p.m. and Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m.

 

On Friday, No. 66 Huskers will face the unranked Jays who began the 2007 spring season with a 5-2 win against Northern Colorado at home and then continued their success on the road going 2-0 in Lincoln, Neb., defeating Nebraska Wesleyan, 8-1, and William Jewell, 8-1.  The Jays suffered their first loss when they traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to compete against UMKC and lost 7-0.  The sophomore duo of Nikita Dudar and Jose Guerra leads the Creighton squad this season while finding ample time competing at the No. 1 and 2 positions.  Dudar has compiled a 2-0 record at No. 1 singles and a 1-1 record at No. 2 singles so far this season while Nikita has yet to earn a win at No. 1 singles for the Jays.  Competing in No. 1 doubles for Creighton will likely be Dudar and senior Joe Eckert, who have combined for a 3-1 record this season.

 

With eight matches already completed on their schedule, the Trojans will prove to be a strong competitor for the Huskers on Saturday.  The Trojans have suffered only two losses this spring and both losses have been to nationally ranked teams.  After opening the season with a 6-1 loss to then-No. 27 Tulsa, UALR won six of its next seven matches, falling only to then-No. 6 Ole Miss, 6-1.  The Trojans tout a nationally ranked doubles team with No. 44 Edson Abrao and Rain Roigas, who have compiled a 5-2 record this spring competing primarily at the No. 2 position.  Along with nationally ranked duo, three Trojans entered the spring season ranked in the top 30 of the Central Region, including No. 13 Dinko Halachev, No. 17 Edson Abrao and No. 30 German Perez.

 

While the Huskers are set to compete in only two matches over the weekend, the UALR Trojans are scheduled to squeeze in four matches during their three days at the NebraskaTennisCenter.  Nebraska will also play host to Drake and Nebraska-Kearney as Drake competes against UALR on Friday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m., Nebraska-Kearney competes against UALR on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 9 a.m., and Creighton competes against UALR on Sunday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m.

 

A Win and Loss in New Mexico Keeps Huskers Even

 

While in New Mexico the then-No. 63 Huskers went 1-1 as they competed against New Mexico on Friday, Feb. 3, and Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 4.

 

On Friday, the Huskers were upset by then-No. 73 New Mexico, 5-2.  The Huskers fell behind early when they lost the doubles point.  Nebraska’s only doubles win came at the No. 1 position when Mark Tate and David Bendheim defeated New Mexico’s Miles Bugby and Johnny Parkes, 8-7(7). It marked the second time that Tate and Bendheim have paired up this spring and Friday’s victory was the duo’s first win.

 

Down by one point going into the singles competition, senior Adrian Szatmary, ranked No. 78 in the country, came away with an upset victory at the No. 1 singles spot. Earning his second victory of the spring season, Szatmary defeated No. 73 Max Jones of New Mexico in two sets, 6-3, 6-3. The win was the first ranked opponent that Szatmary has competed against and defeated this spring season.

 

After Friday’s loss Nebraska earned a redeeming win Saturday afternoon, upsetting then-No. 61 Arizona, 4-3.  The Huskers went 1-2 in the doubles competition.  Bouncing back from a one-point deficit going into the singles competition, the Huskers were victorious at the Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 spots, clinching the dual match victory with the deciding victory at the No. 5 singles position.  Tate excelled under pressure as he defeated Arizona’s Jason Labrosse and posted a come-from-behind win, 6-7, 7-6, 6-0 to earn the victory and clinch the team win for Nebraska.

 

Sophomore standout, Hendrik Stahmer, remained undefeated at the conclusion of the weekend by compiling a 3-0 record to date.

 

Huskers Place Seven on Big 12 Honor Roll

 

Seven members of the Nebraska men’s tennis team were honored by the league office as they were named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the 2006 fall semester.

 

Leading the way for the Huskers was senior Adrian Szatmary who was selected to the honor roll for the fourth time in his career.

 

Also joining Szatmary for a return trip to the squad were former Huskers Jerry Posch (fifth honor) and Sean Coetzee (fourth), and sophomores Renato Melo (second) and Hendrik Stahmer (second).  Freshmen Brett Tesmer and Francois Van Impe also were selected to the squad for the first time.

 

Melo, a second-time honoree, was the only Husker to earn a 4.0 GPA during the fall 2006 semester.

 

The Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll recognizes student-athletes who earned a 3.0 GPA or higher during the previous semester. Overall, Nebraska had 270 student-athletes named to the fall honor roll, including 33 who produced perfect 4.0 grade-point averages during the spring semester.

 

Name                           Yr.        Hometown                        Major

Coetzee, Sean               Sr.        Durban, South Africa           Marketing

Melo, Renato*                So.       Belo Horizonte, Brazil          Business Administration

Posch, Jerry$                 Sr.        Perchtoldsdorf, Austria        News & Editorial

Stahmer, Hendrik           So.       Hamburg, Germany              Business Administration

Szatmary, Adrian           Sr.        Budapest, Hungary              Marketing

Tesmer, Brett                Fr.        Lincoln, Neb.                        Undeclared

Van Impe, Francois        Fr.        Brussels, Belgium                Business Administration

 

*Earned a 4.0 GPA        $Completed eligibility in 2006

 

Rain Cancels Nebraska-Fresno Match

 

The then-No. 61 Nebraska men’s tennis match at then-No. 45 Fresno State scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 28, was canceled due to rain. If scheduling permits, the match may be rescheduled later in the season.

 

First Victory of Spring Comes in California

 

The Huskers earned their first victory of the 2007 spring season on Jan. 27, against Loyola Marymount in Fresno, Calif.  The Huskers took advantage of the California weather when they competed outside for the first time in months and trampled past the Lions, 6-1.

 

The Huskers got off to a good start when they went 2-1 in doubles, earning the doubles point.  Winning the No. 2 doubles was the team of senior Adrian Szatmary and sophomore Renato Melo.  The Husker duo defeated LMU’s team of Matt Phillips and Jacek Twarowski, 8-4, giving Szatmary an unblemished doubles record of 2-0 so far this spring.

 

Earning the Huskers’ second victory in doubles was the pairing of senior James Clow and freshman Francois Van Impe at No. 3 doubles.  They defeated Nikola Petrov and Renzo Maggi, 8-2.  During the 2006 fall season, Clow and Van Impe teamed up eight times, compiling a 3-5 record, and now start the spring season with a 1-0 record as a team.

 

Up 1-0 after the doubles competition, the Huskers made a smooth transition into the singles competition, sweeping Loyola Marymount in the top five spots.

 

Competing at the No. 1 spot for the Huskers was No. 78 Szatmary, who defeated LMU’s Nico Terrien in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, to earn his first singles victory of the spring season.  In No. 2 singles, it was NU sophomore Hendrik Stahmer that came away with the victory.  Stahmer defeated Nikola Petrov, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, to also gain his first victory of the spring.

 

The top-five spot sweep continued, as Clow defeated Jacek Twarowski, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 3 spot, freshman David Bendheim defeated Reyniere Roxas, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 4, and Melo defeated Sam Tadevosian in two sets, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 5 spot.