Huskers Outlast DePaul

Lincoln - The Nebraska men's tennis team outlasted the DePaul Blue Demons on Saturday night, 5-2, in a match that took nearly four hours to complete. The Huskers won their second straight and improved to 4-2 while DePaul dropped to 5-4.

All three doubles matches went down to the wire, and gave both teams a taste of what to expect the rest of the way in singles. The Blue Demons won at No. 3 doubles, 8-6, putting the Huskers in an early hole. But, the Huskers battled back to take No. 1, 9-7, while forcing a tiebreaker at No. 2. The Huskers won the tiebreaker and the match, 9-8 (2), and for the second straight night Nebraska clinched the doubles point in a deciding-match tiebreaker, and took a 1-0 lead into singles play.

"The doubles was big tonight," said head coach Kerry McDermott. "We felt like if we could get the doubles point again tonight it would allow us to play a little looser in singles."

Sophomore David Bendheim put the Huskers up 2-0, as he used an overpowering serve to win in straight sets at the No. 2 spot over DePaul's Jose Moncada, 6-3, 6-2. Freshman Calin Paar gave Nebraska a commanding 3-0 lead after defeating DU's Austin Doerner at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 7-6 (4), marking the second night in a row Paar has prevailed in straight sets at the No. 1 position.

The Blue Demons wouldn't go away quietly, however. DePaul freshman Ben Hartman improved to 9-0 on the year with a 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 6 singles over NU's Karl Jones, and the remaining three singles matches all went into a third set. Nearly a half hour after Hartman's victory at No. 6 singles, NU sophomore Francois Van Impe finally sealed the win for the Huskers with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles, making the score 4-1.

At No. 3 singles, NU junior Hendrik Stahmer and DePaul's Alasdair Graetz finished their second set just after Van Impe's clinching victory, so they decided to end their match with a super-tiebreaker rather than a full third set. Stahmer came away with a victory in the tiebreaker, 6-7 (5), 6-3, (10-5). NU's Renato Melo and DePaul's Bartosz Jozwiak were already in the middle of their third set by the time the teams' outcomes had been decided, so they played the whole way through. Jozwiak ultimately emerged victorious, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, giving DePaul its second point.

"It was a tough match," said McDermott. "We knew that they were a very dangerous team. I just felt like tonight we wanted it a little more, and the guys stepped up. I thought we played aggressive when we needed to."

The Huskers return to the Nebraska Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon, as they play No. 50 Drake at 1 p.m., for their third match of the weekend. The Bulldogs have won an incredible 26 straight regular season matches, dating back to last season, and are 6-0 so far this year.

"We're looking forward to it," said McDermott. "I think it's a huge opportunity for us. We feel like these matches the last two nights have prepared us, so we're ready to go."

Results
Nebraska 5, DePaul 2

Doubles
No. 1 Bendheim/Paar (NU) def. Doerner/Moncada (DU), 9-7
No. 2 Stahmer/Van Impe (NU) def. Graetz/Williams (DU), 9-8 (2)
No. 3 Grgec/Jozwiak (DU) def. Jones/Melo (NU), 8-6

Singles
No. 1 Calin Paar (NU) def. Austin Doerner (DU), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
No. 2 David Bendheim (NU) def. Jose Moncada (DU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Hendrik Stahmer (NU) def. Alasdair Graetz (DU), 6-7, 6-3, (10-5)
No. 4 Francois Van Impe (NU) jdef. Vanja Grgec (DU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
No. 5 Bartosz Jozwiak (DU) def. Renato Melo (NU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
No. 6 Ben Hartman (DU) def. Karl Jones (NU), 6-1, 6-4