Huskers Open Big 12 Conference Play at Home

The No. 75 Nebraska men’s tennis team is set to open the Big 12 Conference season at the NebraskaTennisCenter this Friday, March 23, against No. 4 Baylor at 2 p.m. The Huskers remain at home and take on No. 31 Texas Tech at 1 p.m., on Sunday, March 25.

 

The Bears are 13-2 this spring, with their only losses of the season coming against No. 2 Ohio State and then-No. 15 Florida.  Aside from the Bears’ prestigious national team ranking, they also currently have the largest number of nationally ranked singles players in the Big 12, touting four individual national rankings.  Senior Michal Kokta is the highest-ranked Bear at No. 14, but he is quickly followed by junior Lars Poerschke at No. 18.  Both Kokta and Poerschke have been named the Big 12 Men’s Tennis Player of the Week during the 2007 spring season.  Another veteran on the Baylor roster that is nationally ranked is senior Matija Zgaga, who is ranked No. 108.  Along with Baylor’s veteran talent, it also displays strength from its under-classmen with freshman Dominik Mueller, who is ranked No. 91.  In dual matches, the Bears have compiled a 66-10 record in singles and a 29-15 doubles record during the 2007 spring season.

 

On Sunday, the Huskers will face No. 31 Texas Tech, which has compiled a 9-5 record this spring.  Although the Red Raiders have five losses, they have earned three upset victories and have also faced 10 ranked teams out of the 14 matches they have had so far this spring.  The matchup will be highly competitive, as Texas Tech has an identical record against Nebraska opponents, defeating Texas-Pan American, 5-0, and falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 0-4.  The Red Raiders began the 2007 spring season ranked No. 44 and reached their highest ranking of 22 on March 13.  Currently Texas Tech has one nationally ranked singles player, junior Bojan Szumanski, who is ranked No. 33.

 

This weekend, the No. 75 Huskers, now 6-6, look to break the pattern they have developed this spring and earn their first Big 12 victory since April 5, 2003, when they defeated Oklahoma, 4-3.  Nebraska has gone 1-1 in its past five sets of matches,  and has not yet earned two wins in a single weekend.

 

Huskers Regain National Ranking

 

Beginning the 2007 spring season ranked 61st in the nation, the Huskers have struggled with consistency against opponents, resulting in the Huskers being left out of the March 6th national polls.  This marked the first time since May 2006 that the Huskers had been unranked.  After going 1-2 the following week, the Huskers quickly earned their way back into the polls at No. 74 on March 13 and are No. 75 this week.

 

Huskers Keep the Even Streak in Texas

 

After going 1-1 at home matches against then-No. 48 East Tennessee State and WichitaState on March 8 and 10 respectively, the Huskers went south to compete against then-No. 40 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 12 and Texas-Pan American on March 14.  Both matches were not initially scheduled, but were added midway through the season to allow the Huskers to compete against a variety of talented teams.

 

The Nebraska men’s tennis team suffered a disappointing 4-2 loss to then-No. 40 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday, March 12.

 

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 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.  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 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 against then-No. 48 East Tennessee State and WichitaState.  Unfortunately the duo was unable to carry the weekend’s momentum into the match 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 loss pushed the Huskers back to 5-6 on the season, but they jumped right back into action as they traveled to Edinburg, Texas, to compete against Texas-Pan American on March 14.

 

The Huskers defeated Texas-Pan American 6-1 after they swept the Bronc Busters at all three spots in the doubles competition to win the doubles point.  This marked the first time the Huskers have earned the doubles point since Feb. 16 when they swept Creighton 7-0.

 

Rolling with the momentum, the Huskers nearly swept UTPA in singles, losing only one match at the No. 2 spot.  All but one of Nebraska’s victories came in straight sets and its only loss was forced into three sets with a tiebreaker.

 

The two closest matches of the day were at the No. 1 and 2 spots in which No. 115 Adrian Szatmary defeated UTPA’s Ivan Avila.  Szatmary won his first set 6-2, but Avila came back in the second set to win 7-5.  With the match on the line, the two played a tiebreaker set which Szatmary defeated Avila, 10-3, to win the match.

 

At No. 2 singles, a close match between senior James Clow and UTPA’s Gary Bianco quickly developed.  Clow started the match with a commanding 6-1 win in the first set, but the pressure set in when Bianco bounced back to defeat Clow in the second set, 6-2.  A hard-fought third set put Clow in a position to win, but ultimately Bianco overcame Clow, defeating him 7-6 (8-6) in the third set to win the match.

 

The Huskers swept the Bronc Busters from the No. 3 to 6 spots with David Bendheim, Hendrik Stahmer, Renato Melo and Mark Tate all earning victories for Nebraska in straight sets.