Herrmann, Stavropoulos Claim Wins for Huskers

Dallas - The Nebraska men's tennis team fought hard but came up short on the road at 9-1 SMU, dropping a 5-2 match Saturday in Texas.

Marc Herrmann and Vasileios Stavropoulos provided the 2-3 Huskers with points with tremendous battles at the No. 2 and No. 6 singles spots, respectively.

"We got off to a rough start with doubles play and didn't return very well along with taking care of put-away volleys when needed," Nebraska Coach Kerry McDermott. "In singles I felt Marc and Vasileios played very well and took care of business on their courts, and played solid singles for the team."

In addition to Nebraska's two singles wins, No. 1 Dusty Boyer and No. 4 Linus Erhart played well in hard-fought singles losses that were the difference between team victory and defeat.

"We had a few opportunities on Dusty and Linus' courts to possibly make it a 4-3 victory for the team, but SMU played a little better when needed. We need to have a good week of practice and get ready for a very competitive weekend against Oregon and Santa Clara."

The Mustangs got off to a strong start by claiming the doubles point on their home court with wins in both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Nebraska's No. 2 duo of Linus Erhart and Scott Elsass dropped a 6-2 decision to SMU's Nate Lammons and Arkadijs Slobodkins, 6-2.

After the setback at No. 2, the Huskers' No. 1 tandem of Dusty Boyer and Bradford Zitsch settled for a 6-2 setback to Markus Kerner and Arturs Kazijevs.

With the doubles point secured by SMU, NU's No. 3 pair of Marc Herrmann and Chris Hobgarski ended their match with SMU's Tony Russell and Samm Butler before it was complete.

Trailing 1-0, the Huskers knew they needed victories in four of the six singles matches. In the No. 5 position, freshman Chris Hobgarski battled SMU Arkadijis Slobodkins in an extremely tight first set before falling, 7-6. Slobodkins completed the two-set win with a 6-2 victory in the second set to push the Mustangs' team lead to 2-0.

Nebraska's Andrew Dzulynsky dropped his first set to Nate Lammons, 6-1, at the No. 4 position, before taking the second set to the wire in a 7-6 loss.

With the Huskers trailing 3-0, Vasileios Stavropoulos gave the team hope with a straight-set, 6-4, 6-3 win over SMU's Charles Nettlefold at the No. 6 position.

Dusty Boyer battled SMU's Arturs Kazijevs hard for two sets, but dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision that clinched the team win for the Mustangs.

However, Marc Herrmann continued to compete, giving the Big Red their second point of the match with a 7-5, 7-5 win over SMU's Markus Kerner at the No. 2 singles spot.

Linus Erhart was also locked in a tight match with SMU's Samm Butler at the No. 4 position, dropping the first set 6-2, before rallying for a 6-4 win in the second set. In the decisive third set, Erhart fell 6-2.

The Huskers continue their season in Eugene, Ore., on Friday, Feb. 20, when they take on the Ducks and Broncos beginning at 7 p.m.  

SMU - 5
Nebraska - 2

Singles

No. 1 - Arturs Kazijevs (SMU) def. Dusty Boyer (NEB) 6-4, 6-4

No. 2 - Marc Herrmann (NEB) def. Markus Kerner (SMU) 7-5, 7-5

No. 3 - Samm Butler (SMU) def. Linus Erhart (NEB) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2

No. 4 - Nate Lammons (SMU) def. Andrew Dzulynsky (NEB) 6-1, 7-6(7-1)

No. 5 - Arkadijs Slobodkins (SMU) def. Chris Hogbarski (NEB) 7-6(7-0), 6-2

No. 6 - Vasileios Stavropoulos (NEB) def. Charles Nettlefold (SMU) 6-4, 6-3

Order of finish: 5,4,6,1,2,3

Doubles

No. 1 - Markus Kerner/Arturs Kazijevs (SMU) def. Dusty Boyer/Bradford Zitsch (NEB) 6-2 

No. 2 - Nate Lammons/Arkadijs Slobodkins (SMU) def. Linus Erhart/Scott Elsass (NEB) 6-2

No. 3 - Tony Russell/Samm Butler (SMU) vs. Marc Herrmann/Chris Hobgarski (NEB) 5-3 dnf

Order of finish: 2,1