Huskers Fall to Minnesota 4-3

Lincoln, Neb.--The No. 65 Nebraska men's tennis team fell to the No. 31 Minnesota Gophers, 4-3, on Saturday, Jan. 23, at the Nebraska Tennis Center. The Huskers' record drops to 3-1 on the year, while Minnesota improves to 1-0. The Huskers dropped the doubles point for the first time this season and lost at the No. 2, 3 and 6 singles spots in the loss. Head coach Kerry McDermott thought his team responded well after dropping the doubles point, but knows they still have a lot to learn as a team.

"I wanted to see how we would respond after doubles, and we responded well," McDermott said. "This match is not going to define our season. There are things we are going to find out about ourselves, especially in doubles, from this match. Hopefully we learn from this match and get better."

The Huskers were not able to secure the doubles point as the top two teams dropped their matches. At the No. 1 spot, Christopher Aumueller and David Bendheim (NU) fell for the first time of the season to Sebastian Gallego and Phillip Arndt (MINN) 8-4, while Rok Bonin and Tobias Wernet (MINN) took down Calin Paar and Andre Stenger (NU) 8-5 at the No. 2 spot. The Huskers lone win in doubles came at the No. 3 position where Benedikt Lindheim and Francois Van Impe cruised by Julian Dehn and Michael Sicora (MINN) 8-1.

In singles, the Huskers first point came from Lindheim (NU) who defeated Michael Sicora (MINN) 6-0, 6-1, at the No. 5 spot. Lindheim is now 4-0 on the year and has not let an opponent score more than two points on him this season. After dropping the No. 2 singles match, Aumueller (NU) and Van Impe (NU) both won to put the Huskers into a tie for the overall team score. Aumueller took down Rok Bonin (MINN) at the No. 1 spot 6-4, 6-2, while Van Impe beat Dino Bilankov (MINN) 6-2, 7-5, at the No. 4 spot. With Aumueller's and Van Impe's consecutive victories, the match would be decided at the No. 3 spot where Bendheim (NU) was matched up with Gallego (MINN). After dropping the first set, Bendheim battled back to tie the match at one set a piece after beating Gallego 6-3 in the second set, but was unable to carry his momentum into the third and final set falling to Gallego 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

The Huskers return to action on Sunday, Jan. 24, when they take on the Denver Pioneers at 1 p.m. at the Nebraska Tennis Center.

Final Results
NU 3, MINN 4
Doubles
1. Sebastian Gallego/Phillip Arndt (MINN) defeated Christopher Aumueller/David Bendheim (NU) 8-4
2. Rok Bonin/Tobias Wernet (MINN) defeated Calin Paar/Andre Stenger (MINN) 8-6
3. Benedikt Lindheim/Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated Julian Dehn/Michael Sicora (MINN) 8-1
Singles
1. Christopher Aumueller (NU) defeated Rok Bonin (MINN) 6-4, 6-2
2. No. 55 Tobias Wernet (MINN) defeated No. 76 Calin Paar (NU) 6-1, 6-4
3. No. 67 Sebastian Gallego (MINN) defeated David Bendheim (NU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
4. Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated Dino Bilankov (MINN) 6-2, 7-5
5. Benedikt Lindheim (NU) defeated Michael Sicora (MINN) 6-0, 6-1
6. Julian Dehn (MINN) defeated Andre Stenger (NU) 6-0, 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3 1 2) Singles (6 5 2 1 4 6)