Huskers Draw Aggies In Big 12 First Round

The No. 62 Nebraska men’s tennis team will take on the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of the Big 12 Tennis Championships, in Noman, Okla.  The seventh-seeded Huskers will battle the second-seeded Aggies on Friday, April 24, at the HeadingtonFamilyTennisCenter with first serve scheduled for noon.  NU is hoping to extend its season and break its current seven-match losing streak, all against ranked opponents, when it faces A&M.  The winner of the Huskers and Aggies match will move on to play either the No. 3 seed Texas or No. 6 seed Oklahoma in the semifinals on Saturday, April 25, at noon.  Baylor claimed the top seed in the tournament after going 6-0 in Big 12 play and will face winner of the No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Texas Tech match.

    Leading the Huskers to Norman will be senior Hendrik Stahmer. Stahmer has won four straight Big 12 matches to improve his record to 4-2 in league play.  The German native is also tied with Christopher Aumueller for the team lead in victories at 18.  Aumueller, who is ranked at No. 101 in the nation, will enter the tournament after playing at the No. 1 spot for the first time in his young career on Sunday, April 19, against Texas.  In that match, the freshman battled hard against No. 23 Dimitar Kutrovsky before falling 6-3, 7-6.  The loss dropped Aumueller’s Big 12 record to 4-2.

 

Huskers Drop Regular-Season Finale To No. 14 Texas

    The Nebraska men’s tennis team fell to No. 14 Texas, 6-1, on Sunday, April 19, at the Penick-AllisonTennisCenter in Austin, Texas. Against a doubles lineup that featured two nationally ranked pairs, NU was unable to capture the doubles point and couldn’t make up for lost ground in singles, only winning one match.

    In doubles, the closest match of the day came at the No. 3 spot where Hendrik Stahmer and Francois Van Impe (NU) were defeated by Olivier Sajous and Miguel Reyes Varela 8-6.  The 27th-ranked duo of Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico took down David Bendheim and Calin Paar at the No. 1 spot, while Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim (NU) fell to No. 36 Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala 8-5 at the No. 2 spot.

    Stahmer collected the only singles victory for NU by defeating Sajous at the No. 4 spot. After splitting the first two sets, Stahmer took the third set tiebreaker 1-0 (11-9).  The senior finished the season with a 4-2 record in Big 12 play and an 18-5 overall record.  Playing at the No. 1 spot for the first time this season, Aumueller fell in straight sets to No. 23 Kutrovsky 6-3, 7-6, to finish with a 4-2 record in Big 12 play.  At the No. 6 spot, Van Impe dropped a heartbreaker to Jonah Kane-West (UT) 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (5), while Bendheim was upended by No. 60 Corrie at the No. 2 spot 7-5, 6-4.   

 

Recap-No. 55 Nebraska at No. 12 Texas A&M (April 10, 2009)

    Trying to break a four-match losing streak, the then-No. 55 Nebraska men’s tennis team came up short in its upset bid of No. 12 Texas A&M, falling by the score of 5-2 at the GeorgeP.MitchellTennisCenter in College Station, Texas. After dropping the doubles point, NU was unable to climb its way back in singles against a lineup that featured three nationally ranked players.

    Playing at the No. 1 doubles spot for only the second time this season, freshmen duo Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim fell to the No. 3-rated doubles team in the country Conor Pollock and Austin Krajicek (TAMU) 8-4.  The Huskers evened the doubles matches when David Bendheim and Calin Paar defeated Alexey Grigorov and Colin Hoover (TAMU) 8-6 at the No 2 spot, but were unable to secure the doubles point after Hendrik Stahmer and Francois Van Impe were defeated by Wil Spencer and Austin Klores 8-6 at the No. 3 spot.

    In singles, NU competed hard against the talented Aggie lineup, pushing five of the six singles matches to a third set.  At the No. 5 spot, Stahmer came from behind to beat Hoover 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (1).  After splitting the first two sets against Klores, Renato Melo stormed through the third set to win 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-1, at the No. 6 spot and secure the Huskers’ only other victory in singles. Aumueller dropped his first Big 12 match of the season to No. 51 Austin Krajicek at the No 2 spot.  Krajicek and Aumueller split the first two sets before Krajicek took the third and final set 6-4.  Lindheim was defeated by Grigorov 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 4 spot, while Paar fell to No. 30 Spencer 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, at the No. 3 spot.

 

Scouting the Texas A&M Aggies

    The Texas A&M Aggies enter Friday’s match with a 14-7 record and arguably one of the deepest singles lineups in the country.  The Aggies’ top three spots are filled with nationally ranked players including No. 19 Conor Pollock, No. 42 Wil Spencer and No. 44 Austin Krajicek.  Pollock and Krajicek team up to make the nation’s No. 7 doubles team.  The Aggies are 2-4 against opponents ranked inside the top 10 this season including victories over No. 7 Illinois and No. 10 USC.  The Aggies finished in second place in the Big 12 with a 5-1 conference record after defeating Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Nebraska and Texas.  Texas A&M is coached by Steve Denton.   

 

Four Huskers Named To Academic All-Big 12 Team

    The Nebraska men’s tennis team placed four student-athletes on the academic All-Big 12 teams, which were released on Friday, April 17.  Hendrik Stahmer, Renato Melo and Francois Van Impe all maintained a GPA above 3.2 to be named to the first team, while Calin Paar earned a spot on the second team by maintaining a GPA above 3.0.

    Stahmer and Melo, the teams’ only seniors, have now been named to the first team for three consecutive years, while Van Impe is making his second appearance on the first team.  Paar was name to the second team for the second year in a row.

 

Aumueller Breaks Into Rankings

    Freshman Christopher Aumueller was ranked at No. 102 in the ITA national singles rankings released on Tuesday, April 21.  He is the first Husker to be in the rankings since David Bendheim was ranked at No. 123 on Feb. 19. Aumueller is looking to become the first Husker to finish the season ranked in the top 100 since Lance Mills did it in 2002, when he finished No. 99.

 

NU’s Schedule Filled With Ranked Opponents

    Fourteen of the 25 matches Nebraska has played this season have been against opponents ranked inside the ITA’s top 75.  In those 14 matches, NU owns a 6-8 record with victories over No. 68 San Francisco, No. 57 Indiana, No. 54 Drake, No. 52 Denver, No. 66 BYU and No. 75 Southern Mississippi. 

 

Stahmer, Aumueller Move Into Husker Record Books

    With 18 victories each, Hendrik Stahmer and Christopher Aumueller are tied for 20th all-time on the Nebraska single-season victories list.

 

Huskers Searching For Doubles Consistency

    One reason for the Huskers’ current seven-match losing streak is their inability to capture the doubles point.  Over the past seven matches, NU has failed to garner one doubles point, while three of those seven matches have been one-point decisions.  In the Huskers’ previous 13-match winning streak, NU was able to take all 13 doubles points.  Nebraska has only won one match when dropping the doubles point.  That victory came against No. 57 Indiana on Feb. 7.

 

McDermott Searching for 17th Victory

    Head coach Kerry McDermott hopes to garner his 17th victory of the year against the Aggies which would tie his career high for victories in a single season.  The last time NU won 17 matches was in 1990 when it went 17-9.

 

Huskers Consistently In Rankings

    The Nebraska men’s tennis team has been a mainstay in the ITA top 75 this season.  The Huskers have been ranked every week the rankings have been released, reaching as high as No. 41 on March 3. The Huskers enter this week ranked at No. 62. NU entered the season ranked at No. 73.

 

Huskers Winning Streak Snapped

    After winning 13 straight matches, the Huskers’ streak was snapped by No. 23 Boise State on Saturday, March 27.  During the Huskers winning streak, NU defeated four ranked opponents and climbed all the way to No. 41 in the team rankings.