Huskers Defeat No. 61 Lamar Cardinals

Lincoln, Neb. - The Nebraska men's tennis team defeated the No. 61 Lamar Cardinals, 4-2, on Tuesday at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center. 

The dual began with singles competition. Toby Boyer kicked off the match with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 3 against the Cardinals' Sebastian Santibanez. Following suit at No. 5, Andrew Dzulynsky fought a tough match and came out on top over Jeandre Hoogenboezem 7-5, 6-1.

Ford Zitsch suffered a hard-fought loss at No. 6 against Luuso Laitinen. Laitinen won 7-6 (8-6) in the first set and 7-5 in the second set. Tomislav Antoljak also lost a close match to Benny Schweizer at No. 4 where Schweizer won 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.

With the match tied 2-2, Dusty Boyer got the Huskers back on the winning track at No. 1 singles where he took on Michael Feucht in a battle. Boyer won 6-3 in the first set but fell 5-7 in the second. Boyer fought back to win the third set, 6-3, and earn the point. 

Wrapping up competition at No. 2, Marc Herrmann and Mikita Lis battled it out in three tough sets. Herrmann took the first set in a 6-3 win. In the second set, Lis pulled out a tight 7-6 (7-5) decision. In the final set, Herrmann clinched the match for the Huskers with a 6-2 victory. 

"It was a good team win today," said Head Coach Kerry McDermott. "We felt like this was going to be a very competitive match coming in. They had just beaten Iowa last week, and they just earned a ranking. We were hoping to get that ranking and they kind of stole it from us. We just kind of told the guys before the match, let's prove something to ourselves and the team that we are going to get that ranking back.

"I was really proud of the way the guys played today, especially winning four of the six singles (matches). I thought we did a really good job, didn't even have to go into the doubles point. As a team I feel good that we were starting to come together and make our strides right now as the season progresses. Today especially, we did a good job of getting a lot of the first sets, and I thought Marc Herrmann and Dusty (Boyer) did a great job at the end there, closing out their matches and making things happen."

The Huskers will return to competition this weekend on Saturday, Mar. 19 where they will compete against Northern Colorado at noon followed by Southwest Baptist at 6 p.m. Both duals will be held at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center. 

Singles 

No. 1 Dusty Boyer (NEB) def. Michael Feucht (LU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3

No. 2 Marc Herrmann (NEB) def. Nikita Lis (LU) 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-2

No. 3 Toby Boyer (NEB) def. Sebastian Santibanez (LU) 6-4, 6-2

No. 4 Benny Schweizer (LU) def. Tomislav Antoljak (NEB) 7-6 (9-7), 6-2

No. 5 Andrew Dzulynsky (NEB) def. Jeandre Hoogenboezem (LU) 7-5, 6-1

No. 6 Juuso Laitinen (LU) def. Ford Zitsch (NEB) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5