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Lincoln, Neb.---The Nebraska men's tennis team was well represented in the ITA's preseason tennis rankings which were released on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Sophomore Christopher Aumueller, junior Calin Paar and senior Francois Van Impe all appeared the top 100 singles rankings. The only Big 12 team with more players ranked in the top 100 was Texas, who had five players appear in the rankings. As a team, the Huskers will begin their season ranked at No. 65.
Aumueller will start the season ranked at No. 30 after collecting ten victories this fall and making an appearance in the finals of the Central Regional Championships in Tulsa, Okla. The reining Big 12 Newcomer of the Year won 18 matches last spring and went 4-2 in Big 12 play. Aumueller was ranked at No. 97 in the ITA's final rankings last season.
Paar will begin the season ranked at No. 76, while Van Impe will start his senior season ranked at No. 91. Paar went 7-5 this fall and finished last spring with a 12-10 overall record. Van Impe won five matches this fall and finished last season with an 11-8 record while playing the majority of his matches at the No. 5 spot. Head coach Kerry McDermott pointed to a challenging fall season that helped the Huskers place three players inside the rankings.
"Coach (Joerg) Barthel and I really felt that this past fall our kids had really good results in some tough individual tournaments and think that Christopher, Calin and Francois are very deserving of their national singles rankings," McDermott said. "We feel like going into our spring semester this team has some high expectations and goals and our very competitive schedule should allow for us to improve our team ranking as the year progresses. We would like to qualify for the NCAA Team Championships at the end of the year and are anxious for the season to begin."
The Huskers will begin their season with a pair of home matches on Jan. 16. NU will take on Creighton at 11 a.m. and in-state foe Illinois State at 4 p.m. at the Nebraska Tennis Center.
National Singles Rankings
Christopher Aumueller-No. 30
Calin Paar-No. 76
Francois Van Impe-No. 91