Denver Tops Huskers

Lincoln, Neb.--The Nebraska men's tennis team dropped its second straight match of the season on Sunday, Jan. 24, when they fell to the Denver Pioneers, 4-3, at the Nebraska Tennis Center. The loss drops the Huskers record to 3-2, while Denver improves to 3-0. After dropping the doubles point and two out of the first three singles points, the Huskers needed to win the last three singles matches to capture the victory, but were unable to do so.

"You have to give Denver credit," head coach Kerry McDermott said after the match. "They played a good match today. I was disappointed that we lost a competitive doubles match at the No. 2 spot and that was really the key in the match. I knew we would have to play above and beyond at the lower three singles spots with David (Bendheim) not in the line up, but when you win the top three singles spots you expect to win the match, so that was disappointing."

Two of the most exciting matches of the day came at the No. 2 and 3 doubles spots where Calin Paar and Andre Stenger battled Yannick Weihs and Jens Vorkefeld (DU), while Benedikt Lindheim and Francois Van Impe (NU) took on Enej Bonin and Fabio Biasion (DU) at the No. 2 spot.

After falling behind to Weihs and Vorkefeld 7-3 at the No. 3 spot, Lindheim and Van Impe reeled off six straight points to take the match by the score of 9-7. The Huskers' No. 3 duo is now 3-0 on the season together. At the No. 2 spot, Stenger and Paar battled back and forth with Weihs and Vorkefeld and eventually forced a deciding tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, the Denver pair were able to outlast the Huskers and take the tiebreaker 11-9. The loss clinched the doubles point for Denver and forced NU to win four singles matches to get the victory.

In singles, Van Impe (NU) was the first Husker to record a win after he defeated Simson (DU) 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 3 position. After dropping matches at the No. 5 and 6 spots, the Huskers responded as Calin Paar took down Enej Bonin (DU) at the No. 2 set in a three set thriller 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. At the No. 5 spot, Lindheim (NU) was defeated by Biasion (DU) in three sets to clinch the victory for the Pioneers. At the No. 1 singles spot, No. 30 Aumueller defeated Weihs (DU) in a match that lasted longer than three hours to give the Huskers their third point.

The Huskers return to action on Thursday, Feb. 11, when they travel to Madison, Wis., to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. First serve is set for 4 p.m.

Final Results
NU 3, DU 4
Singles
1. No. 30 Christopher Aumueller (NU) defeated Yannick Weihs (DU) 6-7 (5), 6-0, 7-5
2. No. 76 Calin Paar (NU) defeated Enej Bonin (DU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
3. No. 91 Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated David Simson (DU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Fabio Biasion (DU) defeated Benedikt Lindheim (NU) 6-4, 2-6, 4-6
5. Jens Vorkefeld (DU) defeated Eric Sock (NU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Andrew Landwerlen (DU) defeated Andre Stenger (NU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
1. Andrew Landwerlen/David Simson (DU) defeated Christopher Aumueller/David Bendheim (NU) 8-5
2. Yannick Weihs/Jens Vorkefeld (DU) defeated Calin Paar/Andre Stenger (NU) 9-8 (9)
3. Benedikt Lindheim/Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated Enej Bonin/Fabio Biasion (DU) 9-7
Order of finish: Doubles (1 3 2) Singles (3 5 6 2 4 1)