May 8, 2008

Tennis Teams Fall in NCAA First Round

Metro State Men Win Two Tiebreakers; Women Battle SBU

       Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney tennis teams each saw their 2008 seasons come to an end Friday as the Loper men lost to Metro State, 5-2, and the UNK women fell to Southwest Baptist, 5-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Bolivar, Mo.

        The UNK men, making a fifth straight NCAA appearance, finish 14-6 while the Loper women, in only their second NCAA Tournament, end at 13-11.  Due to rain, this North Central Regional didn’t start until noon Central time.

        The Loper men took the courts at around 4:00 p.m. and faced a Roadrunner team that it had beaten in the regular season, 5-4, but lost to in the RMAC Tournament finals, 5-2. 

        Trying to avenge that setback, senior Miguel Acosta (Colombia) and freshmen Felipe Espinosa (Colombia) got things started on the right note by jumping out to a 7-1 lead at No. 3 doubles and eventually hanging on for an 8-5 win.

        However, UNK was down 6-3 in the other two doubles matches. Both Loper teams battled back with seniors William Jacome (Miami/Colombia) and Andres Espinosa (Colombia) eventually leading at No. 1 doubles by an 8-7 score. Next door, sophomore Drew Mercier (Omaha Westside) and freshman Stefan Voigt (Red Wing, Minn.) were down only 7-6.

       This would be the sixth dual UNK and Metro have played since last year and, once again, it came down to just a few points. The Roadrunners managed to get the breaks this time, winning the tiebreaker at both the No. 1 spot (7-4) and at No. 3 doubles (7-3) to take a 2-1 lead in the team score.

        The Lopers would then lose at No. 3 and No. 4 singles to trail 4-1. Jacome, ranked 34^th-nationally in Division II, would finish a great collegiate career by beating another top D2 player, Sascha Ruckelshausen in straight sets (6-4, 6-2).

       At  No. 5 singles, Voigt was just moments away from wrapping up a straight sets win but Sean Carlton hung on to beat Felipe Espinosa in the sixth spot (6-3, 7-5) to secure the dual win. 

       Against a nationally-ranked and home standing SBU squad, the Loper women had an uphill battle. Trailing 3-0 after doubles, UNK had the Bearcats on the run for a moment.

      Sophomore Kristen Messbarger (Kearney Catholic) easily won her first set at No. 2 singles, 6-1, while freshman Marcelle Strydom (Holdrege) and sophomore Katie-Mary Outhwaite (Australia) held late leads in their first single sets.

      However, SBU’s Jolee Cook and Iveta Wolgframm each came back to claim 7-5 wins. Wolgramm would then go on to beat Strydom at No. 3 singles (7-5, 6-0) with Chelsey Janzen rallying to beat Messbarger (1-6, 6-3, 6-2).