Huskers Upend No. 33 Aggies, 4-3

College Station, Texas ? The No. 67 Nebraska men's tennis team earned its second Big 12 victory of the season on Friday evening, upsetting No. 33 Texas A&M.  Although the Huskers were swept in the doubles to lose the doubles point, they came back strong in the singles competition to win four of the six matches, defeating the Aggies, 4-3.

Rallying from a 1-0 deficit, James Clow evened the score for the Huskers with a two-set victory over Texas A&M’s John Nallon.  The senior played with confidence as he defeated Nallon, 6-3, 6-0, at the No. 4 spot.

 

The Aggies answered at the No. 2 spot where David Bendheim was silenced by Texas A&M’s No. 82 Connor Pollock, 6-4, 6-3, to bring the score to 1-2.  Keeping the Huskers in the mix, Renato Melo displayed consistency as he earned his ninth win of the season at the No. 5 spot defeating Texas A&M’s Clay Donato in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.

 

Tied up at 2-2, the Aggies pulled ahead with a vital win at the No. 3 slot.  Suffering just his sixth loss of the season, sophomore Hendrik Stahmer fell to Texas A&M’s Matt Bain, 6-4, 6-2.  With two matches remaining on the courts and trailing by a point, the Huskers needed to win both contests in order to clinch the team victory. 

 

Stepping up under pressure was freshman Francois Van Impe who earned a crucial victory for the Huskers at the No. 6.  Trailing Texas A&M’s Brett Joelson after the first set, Van Impe surged back in the second with a 6-4 win to force the match to a third.  In the third, Van Impe demonstrated poise as he powered past Joelson, 6-3, to win the match and again tie the score, 3-3.

 

“Francois really stepped up for us tonight and played great tennis,” Nebraska Coach Kerry McDermott said.  “After a great week of practice we decided to insert him into the lineup, and it really paid off for us today.  Today he proved to the coaches and his teammates the level of tennis that he’s capable of.”

 

With the Huskers within reach of their fourth upset victory of the season, the matchup ultimately came down to the No. 1 spot where senior Adrian Szatmary was slated against Texas A&M’s No. 58 Jerry Makowski.  Entering the contest with a 2-5 record against ranked opponents, Szatmary improved that mark to 3-5 as he earned a come-from-behind victory over Makowski, clinching the team win for the Huskers.

 

“This win is not just a big step for this team, but also for our program,” McDermott said.  “We’re starting to play with more confidence and proving to ourselves, and others, that we can compete in the Big 12.  What’s important is that we’re not just playing close matches anymore, but that we’re winning them instead.”

 

The win against the Aggies marks the first time since 2002 that the Huskers have won more than one conference match in a season.

 

The Huskers (9-9, 2-3 Big 12) remain in Texas and travel to Austin for Sunday’s matchup against No. 12 Texas (15-6, 3-1 Big 12) at 1 p.m.

 

 

Doubles  (NU 0, TAMU 1)

Bain/Pollock (TAMU) def. Clow/Szatmary (NU) 9-7

Ocvirk/Wooten (TAMU) def. Bendheim/Van Impe (NU) 8-5

Donato/Joelson (TAMU) def. Melo/Tate (NU) 8-3

 

Singles  (NU 4, TAMU 2)

Adrian Szatmary (NU) def. No. 58 Jerry Makowski (TAMU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3

No. 82 Connor Pollock (TAMU) def. David Bendheim (NU) 6-4, 6-3

Matt Bain (TAMU) def. Hendrik Stahmer (NU) 6-4, 6-2

James Clow (NU) def. John Nallon (TAMU) 6-3, 6-0

Renato Melo (NU) def. Clay Donato (TAMU) 6-4, 6-1

Francois Van Impe (NU) def. Brett Joelson (TAMU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

 

Final Score

Nebraska 4, Texas A&M 3