Nebraska Fights Against No. 2 Wake Forest

Winston-Salem, N.C. - Freshman David Samardzija earned a singles victory but the Nebraska men's tennis team fell at No. 2 Wake Forest, 4-1, in the first match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Friday.

Samardzija earned the Huskers' lone victory of the day with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Wake Forest's Maksim Kan.

In other singles action, Husker sophomore Toby Boyer dropped a 6-4, 6-2 decision at the No. 1 spot to Wake Forest's Petros Chrysochos. NU sophomore Tomislav Antoljak fell 6-0, 6-4, while freshman Micah Klousia lost 6-4, 6-4.

Neither freshmen Dylan Bednarczyk or Chris Dean finished their singles matches, as play was stopped after the Demon Deacons achieved their fourth team point.

On the doubles court, Boyer and Antoljak fell to Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim, 6-1. Samardzija and Bednarczyk dropped a 6-3 decision to Borna Gojo and Alan Gadjiev to clinch the doubles point for Wake Forest.In the other doubles match, Dean teamed with Klousia to face Petros Chrysochos and Maksim Kan in an unfinished match.

Despite the score, Nebraska Coach Kerry McDermott said he saw some good things from the Huskers.

"We lost to a very good Wake Forest team today. As coaches we were very pleased with the way we performed today," McDermott said. "We played much better doubles than last week and gave ourselves a little bit of a chance to win the doubles point today. In singles it was good to see David Samardzija come back strong after struggling to find his game last weekend. We had big chances to win the the first set on Dylan Bednarczyk and Chris Dean's courts and they both played to the level we need them to play as the season progresses. Toby Boyer lost 6-4,6-2 to the No. 1 kid in the country, but it was a very competitive match and a very high level. I can see good things for him later down the road. Micah Klousia ended up losing 6-4, 6-4 and little by little we need for him to continue to believe in himself and play with conviction. All in all it was a big improvement from last week and we need to carry this type of competitivness and commitment into tomorrow's match against Auburn." 

The Nebraska men's team will move on to play Auburn Saturday at 2 p.m.