Huskers Upset No. 35 Arizona

Tucson, Ariz.--- Coming off an impressive 6-1 victory over the Santa Clara Broncos on Saturday, the Nebraska  men's tennis team continued its impressive play on Sunday, March 7, upsetting the No. 35 Arizona Wildcats, 6-1, at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson, Ariz. The win extends the Huskers' winning streak to five matches and marks the highest ranked opponent the Huskers have defeated since beating No. 23 Oklahoma in 2007. Also with the victory, the Huskers improve their record to 8-3, while Arizona drops to 7-4 on the season.

The Huskers wasted little time in capturing the doubles point winning at the No.1 and 3 positions to start the match. At the top spot, No. 54 Calin Paar and David Bendheim (NU) took down Borja Malo and Pat Metham (AZ) 8-5 to get the Huskers their first win. NU clinched the point when Benedikt Lindheim and Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated Andres Arango and Jason Zafiros (AZ) 8-4 at the No. 3 spot.

In singles competition, Lindheim (NU) got the Huskers their second point taking down Metham (AZ) in straight sets at the No. 6 spot. Lindheim was followed by Van Impe (NU) at the No. 4 spot where took down Geoff Embry (AZ) 6-2, 6-1, to extend NU's lead to 3-0. Head coach Kerry McDermott talked about the importance of Lindheim and Van Impe's performance after the match.

"Benedikt (Lindheim) and Francois (Van Impe) were able to get off the court pretty quick and that was really good to see," McDermott said. "They competed really hard and kind of set the tone for the rest of the guys."

After dropping the No. 5 spot, the Huskers were able to take the No. 1, 2 and 3 spots all in three sets to close out the Wildcats. At the No. 3 spot, Bendheim (NU) clinched the victory for NU after taking down Andres Carrasco (AZ) 6-2, 0-6, 6-2. No. 82 Paar improved his record to 9-1 on the year after beating Zafiros (AZ) at the No. 4 spot. The win is Paar's seventh singles victory in a row. At the No. 1 spot, No. 113 Aumueller (NU) defeated Arango (AZ) in a third set tiebreaker to give NU its sixth and final point.

"This is a great win for our team," coach McDermott said. "They really took to the idea that it's all about Husker pride and went out there and competed extremely hard. We did a god job of taking this opportunity and making something happen and trying to make a name for ourselves. I'm very proud of these guys and the way they played."

The Huskers return to action on Friday, March 12, when they take on the Oregon Ducks in Provo, Utah.  NU will then play BYU on Sunday, March 13.

Full Results
NU 6, Arizona 1
Doubles
1. No. 54 Calin Paar/David Bendheim (NU) defeated Borja Malo/Pat Metham (AZ) 8-5
2. No. 51 Ravid Hazi/Geoff Embry (AZ) defeated Christopher Aumueller/Ander Stenger (NU) 8-6
3. Benedikt Lindheim/Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated Andres Arango/ Jason Zafiros (AZ) 8-4
Singles
1. No. 113 Christopher Aumueller (NU) defeated Andres Arango (AZ) 2-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-3)
2. No. 82 Calin Paar (NU) defeated Jason Zafiros (AZ) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. David Bendheim (NU) defeated Andres Carrasco (AZ) 6-2, 0-6, 6-2
4. Francois Van Impe (NU) defeated Geoff Embry (AZ) 6-2, 6-1
5. Ravid Hazi (AZ) defeated Andre Stenger (NU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Benedikt Lindheim (NU) defeated Pat Metham (AZ) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1 3 2) Singles (6 4 5 3 2 1)