Huskers Set to Take On Tar Heels in First Round of NCAA Championship

No. 41 Nebraska (13-12, 1-6) vs. No. 19 North Carolina (17-6, 7-4)
Match Date: Friday, May 14, 2010
Location: Durham, N.C.
Venue: Ambler Tennis Stadium
Start time: 9 a.m.

Huskers Set to Take On Tar Heels in First Round of NCAA Championship
The No. 41 Nebraska men's tennis team heads to Durham, N.C., to take on the No. 19 North Carolina Tar Heels in their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers will take on the Tar Heels on Friday, May 14, at 9 a.m. at the Ambler Tennis Stadium on the campus of Duke University. Duke, one of 16 host sites for first and second round matches, will take on Colonial Athletic Association member VCU in the other first round match of the regional.

The Huskers enter the match with a 13-12 overall record, and a 1-6 mark in the Big 12 conference. North Carolina will sport a 17-6 record and earned a 7-4 mark in ACC play.

The winners of both first round matches in the regional will face off on Saturday, May 15, at Noon to determine who will advance to the field of 16 in Athens, Ga. For live stats of all the matches this weekend, click on the link provided at the top of the page.

Paar, Bendheim First on Alternate List of Doubles Championship
After finishing the season 4-3 in Big 12 play, David Bendheim and Calin Paar worked their way up the doubles rankings and are the first team on the alternate list of the NCAA Doubles Championship, which starts on May 26 and runs through May 31 in Athens, Ga.
The duo finished the regular season with 10-10 overall record, while playing primarily at the No. 1 spot. The pair defeated four ranked teams this season, including No. 3 Moritz Baumann and Marek Michalicka (Wisconsin), and No. 7 Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala (Texas).

Paar Named to All-Big 12 Team
Junior Calin Paar was named to the All-Big 12 tennis team, which was announced on Wednesday, May 12. Paar becomes the first Husker named to the All-Big 12 team since Adrian Szatmary earned the honor in 2007.

Currently ranked at No. 69 in the ITA's national singles rankings, Paar has accumulated a 16-7 overall record this season, while going 3-3 in Big 12 conference play. The German native has defeated four ranked players this year including No. 32 Jordan Rux (Baylor), No. 72 Gonzalo Escobar (Texas Tech), No. 98 Anton Bobytskyi (Oklahoma State), and 83 Alexander Cornelissen (Oregon).

In doubles, Paar has won 12 matches while playing primarily at the No. 1 spot with senior David Bendheim. The pair ended the regular season by upsetting No. 17 Andrei Daescu and Costin Paval (Oklahoma), and No. 7 Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala (Texas).

Huskers Ranked No. 41
The Huskers enter the NCAA Tournament ranked at No. 41 in the ITA's team rankings. The Huskers fell out of the top 40 for the first time in eight weeks.

Junior Calin Paar is ranked at No. 69 in the singles rankings, while Christopher Aumueller checks in at No. 82. David Bendheim and Paar are ranked at No. 33 in the doubles rankings.

NU in the Rankings
Date     Ranking
1/5        #65
1/26      #65
2/4        #66      
2/12      #65
2/18      #65
2/23      #68
3/2        NR
3/9        #36      
3/16      #25
3/23      #35
3/30      #37
4/6        #38
4/13      #40
4/20      #40
4/27      #40
5/7        #41

Three Huskers Earn Academic All-Big Honors
The Huskers placed three student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 teams, which were released on Tuesday, April 27.  Christopher Aumueller and Francois Van Impe maintained a GPA above 3.2 to be named to the first-team, while Benedikt Lindheim earned a spot on the second-team by maintaining a GPA above 3.0.

Van Impe was named to the first team for the third consecutive time in his career. This senior finance major has won career high 17 matches this season while playing in the middle of the Huskers' lineup.

Aumueller and Lindheim both made their first appearance on the Academic All-Big 12 teams. Aumueller, a sophomore marketing major, has played the majority of the at the No. 1 spot where he has collected 10 victories. Lindheim, a business administration and Spanish major, leads the team in victories while occupying the No. 5 spot in the Husker lineup.

Last Time Out: Huskers Fall to Bears at Big 12 Championship
After dropping a doubles point that was decided by a tiebreaker at the No.1 spot, the Huskers were unable to come back against the No. 7 Baylor Bears falling by the score of 4-0 in the first round of the Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas.

The sixth-seeded Huskers pushed the third-seeded Bears to the limit in doubles. After dropping the No. 3 spot, Christopher Aumueller and Francois Van Impe (NU) were able to even the doubles matches after taking down Attila Bucko and Jordan Rux (BU) 8-2 at the No. 2 spot, leaving the deciding match at the No.1 position.

The No. 1 doubles match featured a pair of nationally ranked teams in No. 35 David Bendheim and Calin Paar (NU) and No. 27 Denes Lukacs and Roberto Maytin (BU). The Husker duo was able to take a 7-5 lead over the Bears, but gave up three straight points to fall behind 8-7. After holding serve to tie the score at 8-8, the Huskers were unable to take control in the tiebreaker falling 9-8 (5).

In singles, Andre Stenger (NU) was the first Husker off the court falling to Dominik Mueller (BU) 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 5 spot. After No. 80 Aumueller (NU) fell at the top spot to No. 14 Lukacs (BU), Baylor clinched the match at the No. 4 spot where Van Impe (NU) fell to Roberto Maytin (BU) 7-6, 6-2.

Scouting the North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels are making their 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance, and 18th overall. North Carolina currently owns a 17-6 record, and finished with a 7-4 record in ACC play. The Tar Heels feature one of the deepest lineups in the country with five nationally ranked singles players led by No. 43 Clay Donato and No. 44 Jose Hernandez. In doubles, No. 19 Donato and Stefan Hardy will play at the No. 1 spot. North Carolina is coached by Sam Paul.