Huskers Fall Just Short In Upset Bid of No. 7 Baylor

Lincoln- The No. 49 Nebraska men’s tennis team was a point away from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in program history on Saturday as it fell to No. 7 Baylor 4-3.  The Huskers, who dropped to 16-4 on the season and 0-1 in the Big 12, split the singles matches with the Bears after leading late in the final doubles match. The Bears improved their record to 18-5 with a 3-0 conference record.

In doubles, freshman duo Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim (NU) continue to impress by handing Denes Lukacs and Maros Horny (BU) their first doubles loss in Big 12 play this season with an 8-3 victory at the No. 2 spot. With No. 59 David Bendheim and Calin Paar (NU) falling to No. 74 David Galic and Jordan Rux at the No. 1 spot, the doubles point would be determined at the No. 3 spot.  Francios Van Impe and Hendrik Stahmer (NU) led 7-4 and were serving for the match and the doubles point, but couldn’t hold off Julian Bley and Dominik Mueller (BU), eventually falling by the score of 9-7.

After dropping a tough doubles point, NU looked to bounce back in singles play and did so by winning three matches and took one of their losses to a third set. Aumueller (NU) led the charge for the Huskers by upsetting No. 44 Rux (BU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot.  Aumueller now owns a perfect 4-0 record when playing at the No. 2 position.  Fellow freshman Benedikt Lindheim found similar success at the No. 5 spot when he beat Galic (BU) 3-6, 7-6, 7-5. The Huskers' last singles victory came at the No. 6 spot where Van Impe (NU) used a tiebreaker to defeat Julian Bley (BU) 3-6, 6-3, 12-10. After dropping the first game of his match against No. 7-ranked Lukacs, Bendheim (NU) battled back to take the second game and even the score at 1-1, but was unable to complete the upset bid falling 6-3 in the third and final set. 

Head coach Kerry McDermott thought his team showed great toughness to come back and take three singles matches after dropping such a tough doubles point.

“The team did a really good job of coming back after the doubles point,” McDermott said. “They competed and played extremely hard.  We showed good energy throughout the whole match and tried to stay positive.  This team never quits and is super competitive.  We just couldn’t pull the rabbit out of the hat in singles.”

The Huskers will return to action on Sunday, April 5, with their second Big 12 match of the season against No. 41 Oklahoma.  First serve is set for 3 p.m. at the Nebraska tennis center.

Complete Results

NU 3, BU 4

Singles

No. 1 No. 7 Denes Lukacs (BU) defeated David Bendheim (NU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

No. 2 Christopher Aumueller (NU) defeated No. 44 Jordan Rux (BU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

No. 3 Dominik Mueller (BU) defeated Hendrik Stahmer (NU) 6-1, 7-5

No. 4 Attila Bucko (BU) defeated Renato Melo (NU) 6-3, 6-0

No. 5 Benedikt Lindheim (NU) defeated David Galic (BU) 3-6, 7-6, 7-5

No. 6 Francios Van Impe (NU) defeated Julian Bley (BU) 3-6, 6-3, 12-10

Doubles

No. 1 No. 74 D. Galic/J. Rux (BU) defeated No. 59 D. Bendheim/C. Paar (NU) 8-2

No. 2 C. Aumueller/B. Lindheim (NU) defeated D. Lukacs/M. Horny (BU) 8-3

No. 3 J. Bley/D. Mueller (BU) defeated F. Van Impe/H. Stahmer (NU) 9-7