Huskers Fall Short at Texas Fall Invite

Austin, Texas - The Nebraska men's tennis team struggled to find a rhythm as a team over the weekend at the University of Texas Fall Invite in Austin. Nebraska faced some tough competition in Austin, as teams such as Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, Oregon, Arizona State and Boise State, had players competing. They were unable to get anything going in both singles and doubles, but played hard and produced some victories.

Hendrik Stahmer, David Bendheim and Renato Melo all made it past the first round of Open Singles, but all lost their second-round matches against, each competing until the final point.

"I really feel that if any of these three guys won their second round match, then they would have gone pretty far in the tournament and played with more confidence," said head coach Kerry McDermott.

Sophomore Francois Van Impe lost his first round match in Open Singles, but rallied in the Consolation bracket, making it all the way to the quarterfinals before losing a tight match to Marco Verdasco of Oregon, 7-6, 7-5.

The doubles team of Stahmer and Van Impe made it to the third round of Open Doubles, but none of the Huskers' three other doubles teams made it past the second round.

Senior Karl Jones, who has been battling an appendix injury he suffered during the summer, traveled with the team to Austin but did not end up playing in any matches. Jones should be healthy in time for the beginning of the spring season.

The Huskers have no more tournaments scheduled for the fall season. They will kick off their spring season on Jan. 19 with a home doubleheader against Creighton and Air Force.

"We're concentrating on working hard to finish the fall season, and are looking forward to the spring schedule," McDermott said.

Results
Open Singles - A - First Round
No. 5 David Bendheim (NU) - first round bye
Renato Melo (NU) def. Eduardo Pavia (Ball State), 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
Hendrik Stahmer (NU) def. Geoff Embry (Oregon), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6
Hugo Taracido (UT-San Antonio) def. Mark Tate (NU), 6-4, 6-2
Dmitry Novikov (Texas A&M - Corpus Christi) def. Francois Van Impe (NU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1

Open Singles - A - Second Round
Matt Brooklyn (Arizona State) def. No. 5 David Bendheim (NU), 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
Brad Williams (Texas) def. Renato Melo (NU), 7-6, 6-2
Francisco Segura (Laredo CC) def. Hendrik Stahmer (NU), 6-4, 6-2

Open Singles - B - First Round
Jan Cingel (Texas A&M - Corpus Christi) def. Taylor Boney (NU), 6-1, 6-1
Jake Goldberg (Denver) def. Jamie Holmes (NU), 6-3, 6-4

Open Doubles - First Round
Bendheim/Melo (NU) - first round bye
Boney/Tate (NU) - first round bye
Stahmer/Van Impe (NU) - first round bye
Matt Brooklyn/Wes Miller (Arizona State) def. Holmes (NU)/Justin Raiti (St. Edward's), 8-5

Open Doubles - Second Round
Jarrod Epkey/Jorge Rodriguez (Ball State) def. Bendheim/Melo (NU), 8-5
Jonah Kane-West/Rook Schellenberg (Texas) def. Boney/Tate (NU), 8-1
Stahmer/Van Impe (NU) def. James Langford/Jose Zunino (Texas A&M), default

Open Doubles - Third Round
Francisco Segura/Diego Troiano (Laredo CC) def. Stahmer/Van Impe (NU), 8-6

Consolation Singles - A - First Round
David Bendheim (NU) - first round bye
Mark Tate (NU) - first round bye
Francois Van Impe (NU) def. Gonzalo Bienzobas (Texas), 6-4, 6-3

Consolation Singles - A - Second Round
David Bendheim (NU) - second round bye
Mark Tate (NU) - second round bye
Francois Van Impe (NU) - second round bye

Consolation Singles - A - Third Round
David Bendheim (NU) - withdrew (illness)
Dmitry Minkin (Texas) def. Mark Tate (NU), 6-2, 6-1
Francois Van Impe (NU) def. Brett Powers (St. Edward's), 6-1, 6-1

Consolation Singles - A - Quarterfinals
Marco Verdasco (Oregon) def. Francois Van Impe (NU), 7-6, 7-5

Consolation Singles - B - First Round
Justin Raiti (St. Edward's) def. Taylor Boney (NU), 6-3, 6-3
Danny Vidal (Ball State) def. Jamie Holmes (NU), 6-1, 6-2