Nebraska Drops Road Match at Minnesota, 4-3

Minneapolis - The Nebraska women's tennis team suffered a 4-3 setback at Big Ten rival Minnesota on Saturday. The Huskers slipped to 15-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten.

The Big Red battled through doubles action starting out ahead with the win at No. 3 doubles. Freshman duo Claire Reifeis and Hayley Haakenstad pushed through to earn a stunning 6-2 victory over Golden Gophers Annemarie Emme and Camila Vargas Gomez. 

Nebraska furthered its rally in doubles action as Mary Hanna and Paula Del Cueto Castillo slammed a 6-1 victory at the No. 1 spot. The win over Mehvish Safdar and Caitlyn Merzbacher gave the Huskers the doubles point to lead the match 1-0. Hanna and her partner Del Cueto Castillo also claimed singles victoriesh later in the match to help the Big Red. 

Doubles action at the No. 2 position did not finish due to the team point being awarded to Nebraska, however Lisa Andersson and Vasanti Shinde were leading their Minnesota opponents Caroline Ryba and Cammy Frei by a score of 4-2. 

In singles play, Hanna was the first to fight to victory for the Huskers. The senior from Saline, Mich., earned a hard-fought Big Ten win over Emme in a 6-4, 6-3 decision. This marked the second win of the day for Hanna and brought the team score to 2-1 with the Big Red in the lead. 

Shinde fell 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1 singles against Ryba, before Reifeis dropped a 6-4, 6-0, decision toTina Kreinis at No. 2 singles. Andersson followed suit at No. 6 singles with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 loss against Vargas Gomez. Those three team points gave the Gophers a 3-2 lead.

Bringing the match within reach for the Huskers, Del Cueto Castillo battled back after dropping a tiebreaker set to claim a tiebreaker set of her own at No. 3 singles. The sophomore pocketed a well-played 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Minnesota's Barbara Mancera to tie the team score at 3-3. 

With the dual hanging in the balance, Husker freshman Jeannie Lozowski fought hard for three sets. Lozowski pushed through two tiebreaker sets, losing the first one 5-7 to Maja Vujic before earning a 7-5 victory in the second set. In the decisive third set, Vujic outlasted Lozowski 6-4 to secure the 4-3 win for Minnesota. 

Nebraska will finish out its road weekend Sunday with a trip to Wisconsin. The Big Ten battle with the Badgers will begin at 11:30 a.m. Fans can follow the action at Huskers.com or on Twitter at @HuskersWTennis.

Results

Doubles
No. 1 - Mary Hanna/Paula Del Cueto Castillo (NEB) def. Mehvish Safdar/Caitlyn Merzbacher (MINN) 6-1
No. 2 - Lisa Andersson/Vasanti Shinde vs. Caroline Ryba/Cammy Frei (MINN) 4-2 (Retired)
No. 3 - Claire Reifeis/Hayley Haakenstad (NEB) def. Annemarie Emme/Camila Vargas Gomez (MINN) 6-2

Singles
No. 1 - Caroline Ryba (MINN) def. Vasanti Shinde (NEB) 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 - Tina Kreinis (MINN) def. Claire Reifeis (NEB) 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 - Paula Del Cueto Castillo (NEB) def. Barbara Mancera (MINN) 6-1, 5-7, 7-5
No. 4 - Maja Vujic (MINN) def. Jeannie Lozowski (NEB) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
No. 5 - Mary Hanna (NEB) def. Annemarie Emme (MINN) 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 - Camila Vargas Gomez (MINN) def. Lisa Andersson (NEB) 4-6, 6-4, 6-0

 Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2), Singles (1,5,2,6,3,4)