Huskers Subdue Gophers on Senior Day, 4-3

Lincoln, Neb. – The No. 46 Nebraska women’s tennis team nabbed a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Gophers at its Senior Day match on Sunday. After the victory, the Huskers end their regular season with an overall 18-6 record and a 7-4 record in the Big Ten conference.

Nebraska's 7-4 Big Ten mark gave the Big Red a tie for fourth in the final conference standings, heading into this week's Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis (April 26-29).

The Big Red’s first and final outdoor match of the season included a pre-match ceremony to honor seniors Brianna Lashway and Katerina Matysova. The two competitors each went on to capture doubles wins in close, back-and-forth matches against the Gophers.

The wins were a part of overall heated doubles competition that kicked off the match, as the Huskers fought to come back from a swift 6-4 loss to the Gophers on court 2.

Matysova and junior Vasanti Shinde brought the first burst for the Huskers, as the duo earned a 7-5 win on court 3 over Gophers River Hart and Caroline Ryba to give Nebraska a chance for the doubles point.

The victory fueled the fervent pair of Lashway and junior Paula Del Cueto Castillo, who snagged a competitive, neck-and-neck tiebreaker point to pull off the impressive 7-6 win for the Big Red over Minnesota’s Mehvish Safdar and Caitlyn Merzbacher. With this triumph, the Huskers grabbed the doubles point and led in the match, 1-0.

Singles play started slow but closed with a fiery finish as three Huskers collected wins just within minutes of each other.

The first to dominate her court was Shinde in a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Minnesota’s Tina Kreinis from the No. 2 spot.

Del Cueto Castillo pulled in her triumph shortly after, earning herself a 6-1, 6-2 win over Gopher Barbara Mancera on court 4. 

Sophomore Claire Reifeis collected the Huskers’ game-winning point on court 2, taking down Minnesota’s Annemarie Emme, 6-2, 6-2.

For their last match at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center, Lashway and Matysova each played out their singles matches until the close.

Lashway fell in a tough battle to Ryba in the No. 1 spot before going on to support Matysova in her battle against Merzbacher on court 5. The Bradenton, Fla., native ended her regular season at Nebraska going 7-7 in singles, mostly out of the No. 1 spot, and 16-4 in doubles from the No. 1 spot with Del Cueto Castillo.

After falling 6-7 in her first singles set, Matysova nabbed an impressive 7-5 win in the second set before falling in the super tiebreaker, 13-11. After her doubles win today, the Erding, Germany, native has earned 109 wins in her career at Nebraska, and ended the 2018 season with a 17-4 singles record, mainly from the No. 5 spot, and a 21-1 doubles record, mostly from the No. 3 spot with Shinde.

The Nebraska women’s tennis team will be back in action next weekend at the Women’s Tennis Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis, Minn. Updates on the Huskers’ placement in the tournament will be posted to Huskers.com as soon as they are announced.

Fans can stay up to date with the Huskers by following the team on Twitter at @HuskersWTennis or on Facebook at Nebraska Women’s Tennis.

Results

Singles

1. Caroline Ryba (MIN) def. Brianna Lashway (NEB) 7-5, 6-2

2. Vasanti Shinde (NEB) def. Tina Kreinis (MIN) 6-1, 6-1

3. Claire Reifeis (NEB) def. Annemarie Emme (MIN) 6-2, 6-2

4. Paula Del Cueto Castillo (NEB) def. Barbara Mancera (MIN) 6-1, 6-2

5. Caitlyn Merzbacher (MIN) def. Katerina Matysova (NEB) 7-6, 5-7, 13-11

6. Cammy Frei (MIN) def. Jeannie Lozowski (NEB) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles

1. Paula Del Cueto Castillo/Brianna Lashway (NEB) def. Mehvish Safdar/Caitlyn Merzbacher (MIN) 7-6

2. Tina Kreinis/Annemarie Emme (MIN) def. Claire Reifeis/Hayley Haakenstad (NEB) 6-4

3. Katerina Matysova/Vasanti Shinde (NEB) def. River Hart/Caroline Ryba (MIN) 7-5

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