Nebraska Set To Open Home Slate

 

No. 40 Nebraska is set to open up home portion of its schedule this Saturday, Feb. 12, with two matches after playing the previous three weekends on the road. The first of the two matches will be against Western Michigan at 9 a.m. No. 40 Nebraska will then face off against No. 59 Binghamton at 7 p.m. Both matches will be at the Nebraska Tennis Center. Last season, the Huskers were 5-4 at home.

 

Last Week in Seattle

The Huskers lost a winnable match last weekend to the No. 25 Washington Huskies (6-0), 4-3. The loss dropped the No. 37 Huskers to 3-3 on the year and 0-2 when facing a Pac-10 opponent.

 

The duo of Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim defeated the No. 33 ranked Huskies’ team of Martin Kildahl and Tobi Obenaus, 8-4. They faced off on the No. 2 doubles court. Along with Calin Paar and Taylor Boney’s win on court No. 3, the Huskers won the doubles point.

 

In singles play, the Huskers’ were able to win two of the three matches in the top three spots but were unable to win a fourth match in the bottom three spots that would have won them the match.

 

Aumueller was at the No. 1 spot in the Huskers’ line-up when he upset Washington’s No. 92 Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, 6-4, 6-4. At the No. 2 spot was No. 99 Calin Paar. Paar was defeated by Washington’s No. 81 Kyle McMorrow, 6-3, 6-3.

 

Winning the second singles match for the Huskers’ was No. 97 Benedikt Lindheim. At the No. 3 spot, Lindheim was victorious over Washington’s Daniel Schmidt, 6-1, 6-0.

At the No. 4 spot, the Huskies’ No. 83 Matin Kildahl, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, defeated the Huskers’ Tom Blackwell. On the No. 5 court, Washington’s Tobi Obenaus, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, defeated Nebraska’s Andrew Stenger.

 

Nebraska’s freshman, Sebastian Florczyk lost his first match of the year when he was defeated, 7-5, 6-1, by Washington’s Marton Bots. Florczyk is now 5-1 on the year in singles play. Florczyk was at the No. 6 spot.

 

History with Western Michigan

The last time Nebraska and Western Michigan squared off, the Broncos got the best of the Huskers. On Feb. 29, 2008, Nebraska was ranked No. 72 in the nation while Western Michigan was ranked No. 71. The Huskers were defeated at the H.E.B Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the Broncos by a score of 3-4. Winning his match, at the No. 2 spot, however, was freshman Calin Paar. Paar defeated another freshman in Kazuya Komada, 6-0, 6-2.

 

Aumueller Looks to Stay Hot

Christopher Aumueller is 3-3 on the season. However, the junior is 3-1 in his last four singles matches including going 1-1 against ranked opponents. Last weekend he defeated No. 92 Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, 6-4, 6-4, of Washington. Aumueller’s loss came when he was defeated, 7-6, 7-6, by No. 15 Bradley Klahn of Stanford. During his four match streak, Aumueller is 2-1 at the No. 1 spot and 1-0 at the No. 2 spot. This weekend, Aumueller will most likely face another ranked player in Binghamton’s No. 55 Sven Vloedgraven.

Ranked No. 40; Huskers Move Down Three Spots
In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings released Feb. 8, the Huskers moved down three spots from No. 37 to No. 40 in the nation after their tough defeat this past weekend in Seattle, Wash., to the Huskies. However, this marks the fourth consecutive week the Huskers’ have been ranked.

 

NU in the Rankings
Date     Ranking
1/5         #42

1/25       #41

2/3         #37

2/8         #40

Breaking Down the Western Michigan Broncos
Western Michigan has an overall record of 5-1 and is 1-1 on the road. Western Michigan was unranked in the previous ITA poll. The Broncos have two players to look out for this weekend. The first is senior Kazuya Komada, who has a record of 5-1 on the year. He’s been playing in the Broncos’ line-up at the No. 1 or 2 spots. The other Bronco senior to watch out for is Michael Calderone. Calderone is 5-1 on the year and has been slotted in the Broncos’ line-up at the No. 1 and 2 spots. The Broncos are coached by Dave Morin. This is Morin’s 10th year coaching Western Michigan.

 

Breaking Down the Binghamton Bearcats

Binghamton is the No. 59 ranked team in the country. The Bearcats have a record of 0-2 with both losses coming to two ranked team in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Bearcats have one player ranked, and that’s No. 55 Sven Vloedgraven. Vloedgraven plays at the No. 1 spot in the Binghamton line-up and is 0-2 on the year. However, Sven has a career record of 92-33. Binghamton is coached by Adam Cohen. This is Cohen’s fifth year at the helm.

 

Follow the Huskers with Live Stats

Live stats will be available for the Huskers’ matches this weekend. The link is available at the top of the page.