Huskers Defeat UMKC, 6-1

Lincoln, Neb. - The Nebraska men's tennis team posted an impressive 6-1 win over UMKC on Sunday at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center, handing the Kangaroos their first loss of the season.

Nebraska started strong, winning all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. At No. 2 doubles, Marc Herrmann and Scott Elsass defeated UMKC's Uldis Gaismins and Andrey Smirnov, 6-1. Andrew Dzulysnky and Ford Zitsch then produced a 6-2 win over Amaury Navette and Marc Stanamaria at the No. 3 spot to clinch the doubles point for the Big Red. At No. 1 doubles, brothers Dusty and Toby Boyer played their match to completion and pulled out a 7-6 victory.

UMKC pulled even in the match with a win at No. 6 singles, but the Huskers responded by winning the final five singles matches. Dzulynsky gave Nebraska the lead for good with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mike Psarros at No. 4 singles. Toby Boyer followed with a hard-fought victory at No. 3 singles against Smirnov. Boyer won the first set, 6-3, before winning the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5). Dusty Boyer then secured the team victory with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 win over UMKC's Airam Castellano at the No. 1 spot.

In keeping with the theme of the day of close, competitive matches, Tomislav Antoljak pulled out a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles. Hermann then punctuated the Husker win with a three-set victory over Gaismins at No. 2 singles. Hermann took the first set, 6-3, before Gaismins bounced back with a 6-1 win in set two. In the decisive third set, Hermann pulled out a close 6-4 victory.

"It was a good match," Head Coach Kerry McDermott said. "We told the team before this match that it was going to be very competitive. If you look at all the scores, I thought they played very competitive against us. I felt like our guys rose to the occasion when it came to winning some close first sets, so that was a good sign for us.

"We still have a few areas to work on but doubles was much better today. We finally got all the teams playing good doubles so we were proud that our work payed off today.

Following a 3-2 record during a season-opening five-match homestand, Nebraska will hit the road for the first time next weekend when the Huskers travel to Wichita, Kan., to face the host Shockers on Friday and New Mexico on Saturday.

"As we look down to next week to play Wichita State and New Mexico, we just have to have a really good week of practice," McDermott said. "We feel like those are going to be very competitive matches that we would like to make sure we're ready to go and pick up some wins."

Doubles 

No. 1 Dusty Boyer/Toby Boyer (NEB) def. Airam Castellano/Mike Psarros (UMKC) 7-5

No. 2 Marc Herrmann/Scott Elsass (NEB) def. Ulids Gaismins/Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) 6-1

No. 3 Andrew Dzulynsky/Ford Zitsch (NEB) def. Amaury Navette/Marc Santamaria (UMKC) 6-2

Order of Finish: 2,3,1 

Singles 

No. 1 Dusty Boyer (NEB) def. Airam Castellano (UMKC) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4

No. 2 Marc Herrmann (NEB) def. Uldis Gaismins (UMKC) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4

No. 3 Toby Boyer (NEB) def. Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)

No. 4 Andrew Dzulynsky (NEB) def. Mike Psarros (UMKC) 6-3, 6-4

No. 5 Tomislav Antoljak (NEB) def. Amaury Navette (UMKC) 7-5, 6-4

No. 6 Marc Santamaria (UMKC) def. Scott Elsass (NEB) 6-3, 6-4

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