Nebraska Loses Close Match to Colorado

Boulder, Colo. - The Nebraska women's tennis team dropped its final regular-season match on Sunday, 4-3, against the No. 35 Colorado Buffaloes. The Huskers dropped to 12-7 overall and 4-6 in the Big 12 with the loss while Colorado improved to 16-6 overall and 9-2 in the Big 12 with the win.

The Huskers got off to a slow start after Colorado swept the three doubles matches. CU snapped a seven-match winning streak by the Nebraska No. 1 doubles combo of Imke Reimers and Diana Kuhl as they lost 8-5 to Franziska Jendrian and Monica Milewski, 8-5. The Buffaloes also picked up an 8-5 win at the No. 2 position and an 8-2 win at the No. 3 position to complete the sweep.

Facing a 1-0 hole early, the Huskers rallied to tie the score at 1-1 after the 58th-ranked Reimers won the 10th match in her last 11 tries, beating the 35th-ranked Milewski in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Reimers closed out the regular season with a 16-4 record, all at the No. 1 position.

The Buffaloes retook the lead after Melisa Esposito defeated Marianne Cicmanec, 6-0, 6-3, at the No. 5 position, but the Huskers quickly tied it again after NU's Ashley Finnegan beat Martina Sedivec, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 6 slot.

The last three singles matches all went to three sets, and with the match tied 2-2, each was vital to the final outcome. Nebraska won the first of the three three-set matches, as freshman Wiveca Swarting won her seventh match in her last eight tries with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 decision at the No. 3 position over CU's Jendrian. The Huskers took a 3-2 lead behind Swarting's victory and needed to win only one of the remaining two matches to take the team victory.

The Buffaloes tied the match at 3-3 when CU's Camila Belassi won the third set in her match against NU's Kuhl at the No. 2 position, leaving the match to be decided at the No. 4 position, where CU's Gleisy Torres Torres fought back after losing the first set to force a third set. Torres Torres would go on to win the third set, giving the Buffaloes their fourth point and the 4-3 team victory. The final tally between Ring and Torres Torres was 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

The Huskers have one more match left in the season to be decided. They will finish their doubles matches against Texas Tech on Wednesday, April 25, in Kansas City, Mo., just before the start of the Big 12 Championships on Thursday. The Huskers and the Red Raiders were unable to play their doubles matches when the teams met on March 25 due to inclement weather, leaving the match tied at 3-3, forcing them to make up the doubles matches on Wednesday.

No. 35 Colorado 4, Nebraska 3
Doubles (order of finish: 3-1-2)
No. 1 Jendrian/Milewski (CU) def. Reimers/Kuhl (NU), 8-5
No. 2 Esposito/Sedivec (CU) def. Ring/Swarting (NU), 8-5
No. 3 Torres Torres/Almagno (CU) def. Cicmanec/Finnegan (NU), 8-2

Singles (order of finish: 1-5-6-3-2-4)
No. 1 (#58) Imke Reimers (NU) def. (#35) Monica Milewski (CU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 Camila Belassi (CU) def. Diana Kuhl (NU), 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
No. 3 Wiveca Swarting (NU) def. Franziska Jendrian (CU), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
No. 4 Gleisy Torres Torres (CU) def. Maria Ring (NU), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 Melisa Esposito (CU) def. Marianne Cicmanec (NU), 6-0, 6-3
No. 6 Ashley Finnegan (NU) def. Martina Sedivec (CU), 6-4, 6-4