Huskers Lose Final Regular Season Match

Norman, Okla. - The Nebraska men's tennis team failed in its bid to record it first Big 12 victory of the season, losing 6-1 to the No. 74 Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday afternoon in Norman, Okla. With the loss, the Huskers fall to 10-15 overall and 0-6 in Big 12 Conference play.

The Huskers couldn't rebound after losing the doubles point to begin the match. Nebraska was competitive, losing No. 2 doubles 8-6 and No. 3 doubles 9-7, but they fell just short and conceded the crucial doubles point. With the day's loss, the Huskers dropped to 0-14 on the year when losing the doubles point, but are 8-0 when winning the point.

Nebraska did win at No. 5 singles, when Renato Melo notched his 12th singles win of the spring season with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over OU's Alexandru Joitoiu. David Bendheim fell victim to the nation's 25th-ranked player, Andrei Daescu, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Mark Tate won the first set in his match at No. 6 singles, but Oklahoma's Ryan Thomas bounced back to take the next two sets and claim the victory.

The Huskers will gear up for the Big 12 Championships next week in Austin, Texas, beginning on Thursday, April 24 and ending on Sunday, April 27. Check back to Huskers.com to see who Nebraska will face in the first round on Thursday, as tournament pairings are scheduled to come out Sunday night.

Results
Oklahoma 6, Nebraska 1

Doubles
No. 1 Daescu/Chavarria (OU) def. Bendheim/Paar (NU), 8-2
No. 2 Marinescu/Thomas (OU) def. Stahmer/Van Impe (NU), 8-6
No. 3 Avdeyev/Joitoiu (OU) def. Schneider/Tate (NU), 9-7

Singles
No. 1 Andrei Daescu (OU) def. David Bendheim (NU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 Sergey Avdeyev (OU) def. Calin Paar (NU), 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 Vlad Marinescu (OU) def. Hendrik Stahmer (NU), 7-5, 5-2 (def.)
No. 4 Federico Chavarria (OU) def. Francois Van Impe (NU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 Renato Melo (NU) def. Alexandru Joitoiu (OU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Ryan Thomas (OU) def. Mark Tate (NU), 3-6, 6-2, 6-0