Huskers Fall to Hawkeyes

Lincoln - The No. 61 Nebraska men's tennis team fell short in its match Friday night against the No. 72 Iowa Hawkeyes, losing 5-2. All of the matches were competitive and close the whole way through, but the Huskers ultimately fell short on the night. The loss drops NU to 2-1, while Iowa improves to 3-0.

"I felt like it could go either way before the match," Head Coach Kerry McDermott said. "They played better, and took it to us in critical situations."

Iowa took control early, winning all three doubles matches and taking the doubles point. Senior Mark Tate and freshman Tobias Schneider hung tough at No. 3 doubles before losing to Iowa's Austen Kauss and Christian Bierch, 8-6. At No. 2 doubles, the Hawkeyes' Reinoud Haal and Gregory Holm overpowered NU's Francois Van Impe and Hendrik Stahmer on their way to a 8-2 victory, while Iowa won took No. 1 doubles in a tiebreaker.

The two teams seemed evenly matched in singles play, as each match was competitive throughout and all had close outcomes. Iowa and Nebraska each won a match to start out, with Holm defeating Tate at No. 6 singles, and NU freshman Calin Paar beating J.P. Ritchie at No. 2 singles. The score stood at 2-2 after NU's Renato Melo beat Tommy McGeorge at No. 5 singles. Iowa's Bierch then defeated Husker sophomore David Bendheim at No. 3 singles, and Iowa took a 3-2 lead. The remaining two matches went into a third set, with Nebraska needing to win both to capture a team victory. However, both Stahmer at No. 1 singles and Van Impe at No. 4 singles fell to their Hawkeye opponents in the third set, giving Iowa the 5-2 victory.

"They really took control of the third sets, and played the big points better" McDermott said about the Hawkeyes. "Iowa was the better team tonight, and they deserved to win. This loss shows us that we have some things to work on as a team, and we've got to get better."

Nebraska hopes to improve its record to 3-1 with a match against No. 66 Denver on Sunday. The match will begin after the NU women finish their Sunday morning match, and is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at the Nebraska Tennis Center.

Results
No. 72 Iowa 5, No. 61 Nebraska 2

Doubles
No. 1 von Monsjou/Ritchie (Iowa) def. Bendheim/Paar (NU), 7-7 (5)
No. 2 Haal/Holm (Iowa) def. Stahmer/Van Impe (NU), 8-2
No. 3 Bierch/Kauss (Iowa) def. Schneider/Tate (NU), 8-6

Singles
No. 1 Bart van Monsjou (Iowa) def. Hendrik Stahmer (NU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
No. 2 Calin Paar (NU) def. J.P. Ritchie (Iowa), 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 Christian Bierch (Iowa) def. David Bendheim (NU), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
No. 4 Reinoud Haal (Iowa) def. Francois Van Impe (NU), 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2
No. 5 Renato Melo (NU) def. Tommy McGeorge (Iowa), 7-6 (5), 6-3
No. 6 Gregory Holm (Iowa) def. Mark Tate (NU), 6-3, 6-4