Huskers Defeated by No. 40 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, Texas ? The Nebraska men’s tennis team suffered a disappointing 4-2 loss to No. 40 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday evening.

 

With the doubles competition canceled due to weather, both teams quickly adjusted in preparation for the singles competition.

 

“We knew going into singles that they were very strong at the No. 1 and 2 spots, but as coaches we believed we were more competitive from the No. 3 to 6 spots,” Nebraska Coach Kerry McDermott said.  “With the possibility of a doubles point gone, we went into the competition knowing that we had to win every match from No. 3 to 6 in order to come away with the victory and unfortunately we didn’t get that done.”

 

As McDermott predicted, the Huskers struggled at the No. 1 and 2 spots.  Senior Adrian Szatmary, ranked No. 115 nationally, was easily defeated by TAMU-CC’s Andrey Kumantsov, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 1 singles.  Like Szatmary, Kumantsov began the 2007 spring season nationally ranked.  Although Kumantsov’s ranking has fluctuated, he has remained in the polls throughout the season and currently sits at No. 28.  At No. 2 singles, freshman David Bendheim was defeated by TAMU-CC”s Raul Morant-Rivas, 6-4, 6-2.

 

Senior James Clow and sophomore Hendrik Stahmer came through for the Huskers at the No. 3 and 4 spots, respectively.  Clow surged past TAMU-CC’s Mikhail Pavlov in two straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.  Stahmer’s victory over TAMU-CC’s Dmitry Novikov required a bit of a battle after Stahmer dropped the first set, 6-7.  In the second set, Stahmer stormed past Novikov, 6-2, forcing the match to a tiebreaker set which Stahmer won, 11-9, to clinch the victory.

 

In recent competitions the Huskers have proven to be most reliable at their No. 5 and 6 spots as both sophomore Renato Melo and junior Mark Tate went 2-0 in last weekend’s competition.  Unfortunately the duo was unable to carry the weekend’s momentum into Monday’s competition as they were both defeated.  Melo fell to Zunino, 6-4, 6-2, while Tate was surpassed by Joey Farias, 6-4, 6-3.

 

“I can’t say that our guys didn’t try tonight, but I am bitterly disappointed in this loss,” McDermott said.  “We knew what we had to do, and we didn’t do it.”

 

The Huskers (5-6) jump right back into action as they travel to Edinburg, Texas, to compete against Texas-Pan American (5-7) on Tuesday, March 13, at 3 p.m. at the OrvilleCoxTennisCenter.

 

Doubles  (Not played due to weather)

 

Singles  (NU 2, TAMU-CC 4)

No. 28 Andrey Kumantsov (TAMU-CC) def. No. 115 Adrian Szatmary (NU) 6-2, 6-0

Raul Morant-Rivas (TAMU-CC) def. David Bendheim (NU) 6-4, 6-2

James Clow (NU) def. Mikhail Pavlov (TAMU-CC) 6-1, 6-1

Hendrik Stahmer (NU) def. Dmitry Novikov (TAMU-CC) 6-7, 6-2, 1-0(11-9)

Jose Zunino (TAMU-CC) def. Renato Melo (NU) 6-4, 6-2

Joey Farias (TAMU-CC) def. Mark Tate (NU) 6-4, 6-3

 

Final Score

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Nebraska 2