Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney tennis teams will play for first (men) and third (women) place in the 2015 MIAA Tournament in Springfield, Mo.

In Saturday's semifinals, the 27th-ranked Loper men (20-3) blanked 28th-ranked Southwest Baptist, 5-0, while the UNK women (21-6) lost by the same score to 21st-ranked Northeastern State. Both teams face NW Missouri State Sunday at 9:00 a.m.

Prior to this year, Kearney had never beaten SBU (11-7), a longtime Division II power, before. After a 5-4 victory over the Bearcats during the regular season, UNK now has two wins under its belt against the purple and white.

UNK easily won at No. 1 (8-3) and No. 3 (8-1) doubles but was in a dog fight in the second spot. Sophomore Mohab El Zanaty (Egypt) and freshman Joey Richards (Eden Prairie, Minn.) managed a 9-7 victory against the regionally-ranked pair of Torben Semrau and Chris Blodig.

El Zanaty is now a team-best 22-1 after a 6-0, 6-0 thrashing of Blodig at No. 3 singles. Playing No. 4 singles for most of the season, El Zanaty is 5-0 from the third spot. Finally, Colorado sophomore Justin Ngyuen won 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 singles to score the other team point.

On the women's side, UNK almost pulled an upset at No. 3 doubles as Arizona senior Kari Emery and Papillion freshman Emma Neil got out to a 6-2 lead. However, Easton Parker and Barbora Jirickova rallied for a 9-8 (4) win.