No. 35 Huskers Battle Back Past Wichita State

Wichita, Kan.--- The No. 35 Nebraska men's tennis team used a strong performance from its' top five singles players to battle past the Wichita State Shockers, 5-2, on Saturday at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex. The win snapped NU's three match losing streak and improved its' record to 12-6 on the season, while Wichita State fell to 8-7.

The Huskers got off to a shaky start by dropping all three doubles matches to fall behind 1-0, but dominated in singles play by winning at the top five spots all in straight sets.  

In singles, senior David Bendheim (NU) dominated at the No. 1 spot taking down Sven Kasper (WSU) 6-4, 6-4. At the No. 2 spot, No. 81 Calin Paar (NU) defeated Vlad Marinescu (WSU) 6-2, 6-2, while Francois Van Imp (NU) continued his impressive play by defeating Valentin Mihai (WSU) at the No. 3 spot. The hottest Husker entering this weekend was sophomore Benedikt Lindheim (NU). Lindheim extended his winning streak to nine matches after defeating David Cavalcanti (WSU) 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 5 spot.

The only loss in singles came at the No. 6 spot where freshman Eric Sock (NU) fell to Matheus de Paula Pereira (WSU) 6-4, 6-3, at the No. 6 spot. Head coach Kerry McDermott liked the Huskers focus in singles after struggling in the doubles competition.

"After losing the doubles point, I thought coach (Joerg) Barthel did a really good job of keeping them focused on their singles matches," McDermott said. "I thought our guys came back out after doubles and played like true champs. Wichita State is a good team and I thought we needed this win heading into Big 12 play."

The Huskers return to the court for the start of Big 12 play when they take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Friday, April 2, at the Nebraska Tennis Center. First serve is set for 3 p.m.

Full Results
NU 5, WSU 2
Doubles
1. Sven Kasper/Valentin Mihai (WSU) def. #73 Calin Paar/David Bendheim (NU) 8-6
2. Vlad Marinescu/Adrian Chermaci (WSU) def.  Francois Van Impe/Benedikt Lindheim (NU) 8-1
3. David Cavalcanti/Matheus de Paula Pereira (WSU) def. Andre Stenger/Taylor Boney (NU) 8-5
Singles
1. David Bendheim (NU) def. Sven Kasper (WSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. #81 Calin Paar (NU) def. Vlad Marinescu (WSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Francois Van Impe (NU) def. Valentin Mihai (WSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Andre Stenger (NU) def. Adrian Chermaci (WSU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Benedikt Lindheim (NU) def. David Cavalcanti (WSU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Matheus de Paula Pereira (WSU) def. Eric Sock (NU) 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (2, 3, 1) Singles (4, 3, 2, 5, 1, 6)