Huskers Defeat Mavs 6-1 in Home Opener

Lincoln, Neb. - The Nebraska men's tennis team won its season opener on Saturday, defeating the Omaha Mavericks, 6-1, at the Huskers' new home, the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center.

Nebraska started strong by winning the doubles point. Finishing first, the No. 3 duo of Bradford Zitsch and Andrew Dzulysnky used their teamwork and athleticism to take a 6-1 victory against Omaha's Erik Anderson and Alex Woodward. At the No. 2 positon, Scott Elsass and Marc Herrmann also had success against UNO's Matt Dunn and Brent McKnight, winnning 6-2 and securing the doubles point for Nebraska. At No. 1 doubles, the brother duo of Dusty and Toby Boyer had a slow start, but finished strong in a close 7-5 victory. 

Singles play began with two strong wins from Herrmann and Toby Boyer. At the No. 2 spot, Herrmann put the hammer down against Dunn. Herrmann won 6-1 in a quick first set, followed by another powerful 6-1 finish in the second. At No. 3 singles, Boyer matched Herrmann's strong performance against UNO's Alex Woodward, winning 6-1, 6-1.

The Huskers' strong play continued at the No. 6 spot, where newcomer Tomislav Antoljak took control against John Ellis. Antoljak swept Ellis in the first set, 6-0, and kept his momentum by winning the second set, 6-1. Dusty Boyer matched his brother with his second win of the match, defeating the Mavericks' Colin Buckley in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 1 spot. Dzulynsky was the fifth Husker to win his singles match when he defeated UNO's Marko Minic at No. 4 singles. Dzulynsky put up an impressive 6-1 score in the first set. Set two was clsoer, but Dzulynski came out on top 6-4 to take the match. 

At the No. 5 spot,  Zitsch fought hard in a close loss to Omaha's Erik Anderson. Zitsch took the first set, 7-5, before Anderson forced a third set with a 6-3 victory. The final set went back-and-forth, but Anderson came out on top, 10-7.

Head Coach Kerry McDermott was pleased with what he saw from his Huskers.

"It was a good start to the season. It was a good first match in this facility, and we just loved it," McDermott said. "I thought the guys played pretty well, played good doubles. Singles-wise, I though Omaha was pretty competitive. Obviously we won five of six singles matches but they made us play, and I thought that competitiveness is a lot better for us at this time of the year just to get things going.

"Our guys compeated pretty well. It was a good competitive match to start with and we're looking forward to playing North Dakota."

The Huskers will play a second match Saturday at 7 p.m. against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. 

Doubles Results 
No. 1 Dusty Boyer/Toby Boyer (NEB) def. Colin Buckley/Ignace Warson (OMA) 7-5
No. 2 Scott Elssass/Marc Herrmann (NEB) def. Matt Dunn/Brent McKnight (OMA) 6-2
No. 3 Bradford Zitsch/Andrew Dzulysnky (NEB) def. Erik Anderson/Alex Woodward (OMA) 6-1

Order of Finish: 3,2,1 

Singles Results 
No. 1 Dusty Boyer (NEB) def. Colin Buckley (OMA) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 Marc Herrmann (NEB) def. Matt Dunn (OMA) 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Toby Boyer (NEB) def. Alex Woodward (OMA) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Andrew Dzulynsky (NEB) def. Marko Minic (OMA) 6-1, 6-4
No. 5 Erik Anderson (OMA) def. Bradford Zitch (NEB) 5-7, 6-3, 10-7
No. 6 Tomislav Antoljak (NEB) def. John Ellis (OMA) 6-0, 6-1

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