Bristol, Tenn.--The No. 60-ranked Georgia State men's tennis team dropped a grueling 4-3 match to Nebraska after nearly five hours on court and its eighth doubles point win of the season.

Georgia State (6-3) raced out to a 3-1 lead after the doubles victory and singles wins from senior Victor Valente and junior Robert Schulze. Valente, ranked No. 75 in the ITA National Singles rankings, dispatched Nebraska senior Andre Stenger 6-1, 6-2. Schulze won a 6-4, 6-2 match vs. senior Eric Sock at the No. 4 position which gave GSU its third point on the day.

The match came down to three singles matches at the Nos. 3, 5 and 6 positions. The Panthers owned one-set leads on all of the courts, but Nebraska rallied to win all of those matches in three sets.

"The bottom line is we were not able to finish this match," GSU first-year head coach Joerg Barthel said. "We were up 3-1 and were up a set on all courts but Nebraska kept battling back and we didn't finish it off. We played a very good match."

The Panthers started the match strong by taking the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches. Seniors Valente and Lucas Santa Ana won an 8-4 match at the No. 2 position. The two improved to 8-0 this season in doubles matches. Schulze paired with junior Thomas Cook for the first time this season and won an 8-6 match at the No. 1 position to clinch the doubles point.

Georgia State and Nebraska (4-3) played on the indoor courts at the Bristol Racquet Club.

"I thought the team did everything that we asked of them today," Barthel said, "They played aggressive and with lots of intensity but in the end we could not close out matches and Nebraska deserved to win."

Georgia State returns to Atlanta next weekend for three matches on three consecutive days at the Blackburn Tennis Center. First GSU hosts No. 53-ranked South Alabama on Friday at 2 p.m. The Panthers then play the College of Charleston on Saturday at 1 p.m. and George Washington on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Visit the men's tennis page on GeorgiaStateSports.com for a preview of all three matches.

Nebraska 4, #60 Georgia State 3
Singles competition
1. #75 Victor Valente (GSU) def. Andre Stenger (UN) 6-1, 6-2
2. Marc Herrmann (UN) def. Thomas Cook (GSU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Dusty Boyer (UN) def. Lucas Santa Ana (GSU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5
4. Robert Schulze (GSU) def. Eric Sock (UN) 6-4, 6-2
5. Tom Blackwell (UN) def. Andrew Zedde (GSU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3
6. Sebastian Florczyk (UN) def. Sofiane Chevallier (GSU) 6-7 (0-7), 7-5, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Thomas Cook/Robert Schulze (GSU) def. Andre Stenger/Marc Herrmann (UN) 8-6
2. Victor Valente/Lucas Santa Ana (GSU) def. Brandon Videtich/Scott Elsass (UN) 8-4
3. Dusty Boyer/Bradford Zitsch (UN) def. Andrew Zedde/Sofiane Chevallier (GSU) 8-3

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