Huskers Lose Close Battle at No. 67 Shockers, 4-3

Wichita, Kan. - The Nebraska men's tennis team fought hard but came up just short of a victory in a 4-3 road loss at No. 67 Wichita State on Friday. With the loss, Nebraska dropped to 3-3 on the season, with all three losses to ranked opponents.

The Huskers opened the match by losing a close battle for the doubles point. Nebraska started off with a win from the brother duo of Toby and Dusty Boyer, 6-2, over No. 38 Tin Ostojic and Jocelyn Devilliers of Wichita State at the No. 1 spot. At No. 2 doubles, Tomislav Antoljak and Marc Herrmann took on No. 22 Miroslav Herzan and Haru Inoue, and the Shockers earned a 6-3 win. The doubles point came down to a tight match at the No. 3 spot between Nebraska's Ford Zitsch and Andrew Dzulynsky and Wichita State's Sergio de Vilchez and Eddie Stoica. The Shockers earned the double point with a close 6-4 win.

In singles play, Nebraska pulled even in the team score when Toby Boyer took down Jocelyn Devilliers 6-2, 7-5, at No. 3 singles. Wichita State regained the lead with a victory at the No. 6 spot, where Zitsch lost a close match to Stoica, 6-4, 6-3.

Antoljak pulled Nebraska even again with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory at No. 4 singles. The Huskers then lost a heartbreakers at the No. 2 spot, where Hermann's match with Herzan went down to the wire. Hermann won the opening set, 6-2, before Herzan won set two in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-6). In the decisive third set, Wichita State earned a crucial team point when Herzan pulled out a 6-3 win.

Dusty Boyer tied the team score again with an upset of 95th-ranked Ostojic at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. With the match tied 3-3, the final singles match decided the outcome. At No. 5, Dzulynsky battled hard with Inoue. Dzulynsky dropped the first set, 6-2, before rallying for a 7-5 win in set two. Dzulynsky continued to play well in the third set, but Inoue pulled out a 7-6 (7-3) tiebreaker to win the singles match and give Wichita State the dramatic team victory.

 

"It was a very tough match to lose, and we knew before we started it was going to be a close match," said Head Coach Kerry McDermott. "We played much better in doubles even though we lost the point. We are improving in that area and the Boyers had a big win upsetting a ranked team.

"Singles was so close but we came up a bit short. We liked our fight and put ourselves in a situation to win and hopefully the next close match we can pull a win." 

The Huskers will continue play on Saturday against New Mexico in Wichita, Kan. 

Doubles 

No. 1  Dusty Boyer/Toby Boyer (NEB) def. #38 Tin Ostojic/Jocelyn Devilliers (WSU) 6-2

No. 2 #22 Miroslav Herzan/Haru Inoue (WSU) def. Tomislav Antoljak/Marc Herrmann (NEB) 6-3

No. 3 Sergio de Vitchez/Eddie Stoica (WSU) def. Ford Zitsch/Andrew Dzulynsky (NEB) 6-4

Order of Finish: 1,2,3

 

Singles 

No. 1 Dusty Boyer (NEB) def. #95 Tin Ostojic (WSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

No. 2 #121 Miroslav Herzan (WSU) def. Marc Herrmann (NEB) 2-6, 7-6 (7-6), 6-3

No. 3 Toby Boyer (NEB) def. Jocelyn Devilliers (WSU) 6-2, 7-5

No. 4 Tomsilav Antoljak (NEB) def. Sergio de Vilchez (WSU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4

No. 5 Haru Inoue (WSU) def. Andrew Dzulunsky (NEB) 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3)

No. 6 Eddie Stoica (WSU) def. Ford Zitsch (NEB) 6-4, 6-3

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