Huskers Upset by Denver

Lincoln - After a tough fought loss to Iowa on Friday, the No. 61 Nebraska men's tennis team was upset by No. 66 Denver on Sunday 5-2 at the Nebraska Tennis Center. The Huskers lost to their second straight ranked opponent and fall to 2-2, while the Pioneers improved to 5-1.

Things were looking good for Nebraska early in doubles play, as junior Hendrik Stahmer and sophomore Francois Van Impe won at No. 3 doubles 8-2. After Denver's Adam Holmstrom and Niklas Persson, the nation's 6th-ranked doubles team, won 8-5 at No. 1 singles, the doubles point was decided at No. 2. NU was down 6-5 with a chance to break the Pioneer serve, but couldn't take advantage of two break points, losing the game and eventually the match, 8-5, giving Denver an early 1-0 lead.

"I felt like we played a much better match today than Friday," Head Coach Kerry McDermott said. "I was excited because we had a chance to win the doubles point, which would have been big for us. We're competing well in doubles and I think we're getting better there."

In singles play, Holmstrom, ranked No. 17 in the country in singles, defeated NU's Stahmer 6-2, 6-4, and Denver took a 2-0 lead. The Huskers quickly answered as sophomore David Bendheim won at No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-3, narrowing the Denver lead to 2-1. The Pioneers gained a victory at Nos. 4 and 6 singles shortly after however, clinching the Denver victory as it took a 4-1 lead. The Huskers refused to quit, as Van Impe won in three sets at No. 5 singles. At No. 2 singles, freshman Calin Paar went all out even after the teams' outcomes were decided, not giving up in a three-set thriller in which he ultimately fell short, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

"The big thing is Calin showed his teammates and coaches what NU tennis is all about," McDermott said about Paar's match. "He fought to the end even though he knew the team had already lost."

McDermott was encouraged by his team's effort in the loss.

"I'm proud that our team is showing some guts," he said. "We had some chances, and some points could have gone either way. We've got to continue to improve, and hopefully things will come around for our team."

The men hit the courts again next weekend with three home matches on three consecutive days, on Friday against UT-San Antonio, Saturday against DePaul and Sunday against Drake.

Results
No. 66 Denver 5, No. 61 Nebraska 2

Doubles
No. 1 Holmstrom/Persson (Denver) def. Bendheim/Paar (NU), 8-5
No. 2 Althaus/Landwerlen (Denver) def. Schneider/Tate (NU), 8-5
No. 3 Stahmer/Van Impe (NU) def. Simson/Rosen (Denver), 8-2

Singles
No. 1 Adam Holmstrom (Denver) def. Hendrik Stahmer (NU), 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 Niklas Persson (Denver) def. Calin Paar (NU), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
No. 3 David Bendheim (NU) def. David Simson (Denver), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 Benny Althaus (Denver) def. Renato Melo (NU), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 Francois Van Impe (NU) def. Andrew Landwerlen (Denver), 6-4, 2-6, 6-0
No. 6 Kalle Rosen (Denver) def. Mark Tate (NU), 7-6 (5), 6-2