Huskers Down Highlanders 7-0

Lincoln, Neb.--Backed by a strong effort in doubles and consistent play in singles, the Nebraska men's tennis team upset No. 56 Radford, 7-0 , at the Nebraska Tennis Center on Friday, Jan. 22. The Huskers swept all three doubles matches and six singles positions to capture their second straight 7-0 victory. The win improves NU's overall record to 3-0, while the loss drops Radford to 0-1 on the season.

The Huskers got off to a solid start after Benedikt Lindheim and Francois Van Impe cruised to an easy victory over Erik Finkenbrink and Michael Johnson (RU) at the No. 3 doubles spot 8-1. The duo got captured the first seven sets before surrendering their only set of the match.  The Huskers' No. 1 doubles team of David Bendheim and Christopher Aumueller (NU) clinched the doubles point after taking down Ivan Salec and Zack Watson (RU) 8-5. 

At the No. 2 doubles spot, Calin Paar and Ander Stenger (NU) fell behind to Igor Ogrizek and Thomas Dehaen (RU) 4-6, before the German pair battled back and tied the score at 8-8 to send it to a deciding tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, the pair grabbed an early 2-0 lead and didn't look back taking the tiebreaker by the score of 7-5 and completing the Huskers sweep of all three doubles matches.

In singles, Lindheim (NU) improved his overall record to 3-0 on the season after beating Finkenbrink (RU) 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 5 spot to collect NU's first singles point. In three matches so far this season, Lindheim has been dominant having only dropped a total six games.

At the No. 1 spot, No. 30 Aumueller (NU) took down his first ranked opponent of the season when he defeated No. 66 Salec (RU) 6-1, 6-4, while No. 91 Van Impe (NU) took down Igor Ogrizek (RU) 6-4, 6-2, for this third victory in three tries this year. Freshman Eric Sock also moved to 3-0 on the year after he beat Michael Johnson (RU) 6-2, 6-0, at the No. 6 position. Bendheim and No. 76 Paar also won their matches in straight sets to help the Huskers sweep the singles matches. Head coach Kerry McDermott said he was pleased with the way his Huskers played in both singles and doubles.

"It was a good, solid victory," McDermott said. "We knew it would be a tough match coming in. We knew it would be a battle. They are a good team. I thought our singles played lights out. We didn't drop a set. This match is going to give us some confidence going into tomorrow against Minnesota. We're going to celebrate tonight, but we have to be ready tomorrow."

McDermott also talked about his No. 1 player Christopher Aumueller.

"He played really well. He beat a very good opponent at No. 1 singles and doubles. If he keeps improving, we feel like he can be very good. He's starting to show us his full ability right now and we're excited about it."

The Huskers will return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 23, when they host the No. 31 Minnesota Gophers at the Nebraska Tennis Center with first serve set for 7 p.m. Live stats will be available for Saturday's match on Huskers.com.

Final Results
NU 7, RU 0
Doubles
1. David Bendheim/Christopher Aumueller (NU) defeated Ivan Salec/Zack Watson (RU) 8-5
2. Calin Paar/Andre Stenger (NU) defeated Igor Ogrizek/Thomas Dehaen (RU) 9-8 (7-5)
3. Benedikt Lindheim/Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated Erik Finkenbrink/Michael Johnson (RU) 8-1
Singles
1. No. 30 Christopher Aumueller (NU) defeated No. 66 Ivan Salec (RU) 6-1, 6-4
2. No. 76 Calin Paar (NU) defeated Thomas Dehaen (RU) 6-2, 6-3
3. David Bendheim (NU) defeated Zack Watson (RU) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
4. No. 91 Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated Igor Ogrizek (RU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Benedikt Lindheim (NU) defeated Erik Finkenbrink (RU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Eric Sock (NU) defeated Michael Johnson (RU) 6-2, 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3 1 2) Singles (5 4 6 1 2 3)