Nebraska Faces No. 23 Oklahoma on Senior Day

The No. 75 Nebraska men’s tennis team continues with its Big 12 Conference schedule this weekend with a home and an away match.  The Huskers begin the weekend with a Senior Day celebration at home against No. 23 Oklahoma on Friday, March 30, at 2 p.m., to honor seniors James Clow, Arturo Navarro and Adrian Szatmary.  The location of Friday’s match will be determined at a later time and is dependent upon the weather.  It will be played at either the NebraskaTennisCenter (indoors) or the NU Varsity Courts.

 

Following Friday’s home match, the Huskers go on the road to Stillwater, Okla. to compete against No. 17 Oklahoma State on Sunday, April 1, at 1 p.m.

 

The Sooners are 16-2 overall this spring, and Friday’s match against Nebraska marks the beginning of their Big 12 Conference schedule.  Currently on a six-match winning streak, the Sooners also won the Rice Invitational last weekend with three upset victories, including a 4-2 victory in the first round over then-No. 24 Rice.  The tournament victory helped catapult Oklahoma in the national polls from No. 52 to 23.  Two freshman have led the way for this year’s Oklahoma roster, No. 78 Andrei Daescu and No. 83 Vaclav Kucera.  Competing at the No. 1 singles slot during the Rice Invitational, Kucera earned upset victories by defeating No. 28 Ben Harknett of Rice before going on to defeat Middle Tennessee State’s No. 69 Andreas Siljestrom the next day.  The Huskers and the Sooners have met once already earlier this season during the ITA Central (V) Region Indoor Qualifier when the Huskers were defeated 4-0.

 

Carrying a 10-1 record so far this season, OklahomaState’s only loss came against then-No. 7 Illinois at the 2007 USTA/ITA National Men’s Team Indoor Championships.  The Cowboys began the 2007 spring season ranked No. 16 nationally and they have remained in the top 20 throughout the season, reaching  as high as No. 10.  Oklahoma State Freshman No. 57 Oleksandr Nedovyesov (8-3) recently earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors following an outstanding week as he defeated Penn’s 50th-ranked Jason Pinsky in straight sets and also defeated TCU’s Cosmin Cotet in straight sets.  Another Cowboy standout is junior Ivan Puchkarov (6-3) who is currently ranked 21st in the nation and competes primarily at the No. 2 slot.

 

Three Huskers to be Recognized on Senior Day

The Nebraska men’s tennis team will recognize seniors James Clow, Arturo Navarro and Adrian Szatmary prior to Friday’s competition against Oklahoma.

 

James Clow: A native of Durban, South Africa, captain James Clow is the only senior on this year’s roster to earn three letters under head coach Kerry McDermott.  As a sophomore, Clow was one of only two Huskers to earn a winning record, 13-12, while competing primarily at the No. 2 and 3 slots.  As a junior, Clow won 10 of his first 13 matches including a six-match winning streak primarily at the No. 3 spot.  A two-time Academic All-Big 12 honoree and a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll, Clow has proven himself throughout his years at Nebraska as one of the team’s hardest workers.  As a senior, Clow has compiled an overall record of 16-14.

 

Arturo Navarro: Originally from Naucalpan, Mexico, Arturo Navarro came to Nebraska after spending two years at Tennessee-Chattanooga.  In Navarro’s first season at Nebraska he compiled a 1-4 record.  Hampered by injuries in the fall, Navarro entered the spring season looking to earn a larger role and has competed primarily in doubles.

 

Adrian Szatmary: Arriving at Nebraska after one year at Baylor, the Budapest, Hugary native, Adrian Szatmary, has since helped lead the Huskers on the court.  Making an immediate impact in his first year at Nebraska, Szatmary went 9-15 competing primarily at the No. 2 spot.  During the fall of 2006, Szatmary earned the biggest win of his career when he defeated No. 35 Joseph Jung of Alabama, earning him a national ranking of No. 78 entering the 2007 spring season.  As a senior, Szatmary has taken on the roll of competing at the No. 1 spot for the Huskers and has compiled a 5-7 record this spring.  Off the court, Szatmary is a four-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll.

 

Nebraska Men’s Tennis Weekend Recap

The No. 75 Nebraska men’s tennis team was swept, 7-0, by No. 4 Baylor in Friday’s Big 12 Conference opener at the NU Varsity Courts.

 

The Huskers faltered early, losing all three doubles matches to give the Bears the doubles point and the momentum heading into the singles competition.

 

Unable to regain ground, the Huskers continued to struggle in singles as Baylor dictated play at all six spots.

 

Freshman David Bendheim displayed signs of a talent on the rise while competing at the No. 2 position against Baylor’s Matt Brown.  Defeated 6-1 in the first set, Bendheim struck back in the second set to force it into an extra game, but in the end was defeated 7-5 to lose the match.

 

Following Friday’s loss, the Huskers suffered a close 4-3 loss in Sunday’s match against No. 31 Texas Tech.

 

After losing the doubles point early on, the Huskers once again went in to the singles competition trailing their opponent by one.

 

When senior James Clow was defeated at the No. 3 spot by Texas Tech’s Sinisa Markovic in straight sets, the Huskers were forced to attempt to fight back from a two-point deficit.

 

The Huskers regained some ground when sophomore Renato Melo earned a victory, defeating Texas Tech’s Michael Breler, 6-0, 6-2, at the No. 5 position.

 

A close match then developed in the second set of the No. 2 singles match between Nebraska’s Bendheim and Texas Tech’s Dimitrio Martinez.  After falling to Martinez in the first set 4-6, Bendheim battled through the second to bring the score to 6-6, forcing the set to a tiebreaker before Bendheim lost 6-8.

 

With the Huskers down 3-1, they needed to win the four remaining matches on the court in order to clinch the victory.  Battling back to victory from a loss in the first set was sophomore Hendrik Stahmer at the No. 4 spot who defeated Texas Tech’s Christian Rojmar, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.  Another come-from-behind Husker victory came at the No. 6 spot when freshman Marton Zsiga defeated Texas Tech’s Milos Kustudija, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.  The win evened the team score at 3-3, allowing Nebraska to remain in a position to claim victory over its Big 12 rival.

 

With the score tied, all attention shifted to the No. 1 singles position where senior Adrian Szatmary was paired against Texas Tech’s No. 33-ranked Bojan Szumanski.  Szatmary led after a first set victory, but Szumanski rebounded for a 7-6 (11-9) tiebreaker win in the second set to even the score.  During the tiebreaker in the second set, Szatmary was unable to capitalize on three match points.  In the third set, Szumanski stormed past Szatmary defeating him 6-0 to win the match and clinch the team victory for the Red Raiders.