Big Red Close Fall Season, Johann Big Ten Runner-UpBig Red Close Fall Season, Johann Big Ten Runner-Up
Men's Tennis

Big Red Close Fall Season, Johann Big Ten Runner-Up

The Nebraska men’s tennis team concludes its fall season with junior Lars Johann claiming the 2024 Big Ten Individuals Runner-Up title. In the Huskers’ final two tournaments, running Nov. 7-10, the Big Red tallied its final fall wins. Seniors Anton Shepp and Calvin Mueller competed at ITA Sectionals, where Mueller reached the quarterfinals.

Six Huskers headed to Madison, Wisc. to play in the 2024 Big Ten Individual Championships, and four made it to the round of 16. Senior Roni Hietaranta played his first and only fall tournament, going 2-2 on the weekend. Redshirt freshman Colson Wells went 3-2. Johann went 4-1, capturing the singles tournament runner-up. Johann is only the second Husker to be a finalist in the tournament, after last year when Calvin Mueller went on a 5-0 run to claim the championship. Johann fell in the final to Purdue’s Aleksa Krivokapic, 6-2, 6-3.

Johann also went 2-1 on the doubles court, partnered with junior Leo Linquet. The pair took down preseason #62 Nordby/Yang of Northwestern, 6-1. Linquet split his singles matches, going 2-2. Redshirt senior Henry Bilicic went 1-4, 3-1. Bilicic was partnered with junior Nikolay Sysoev for doubles, the pair only falling to Indiana. Sysoev went 3-1 in singles, defeated by Purdue’s Juan David Velasquez in the round of 16.

In Fort Worth, Texas, Shepp and Mueller fought on the singles and doubles courts for a last chance ticket to the NCAA Individual Championships. No. 114 Shepp took his first match, but met up with #7 Gavin Young from Michigan in the round of 16, and fell in two sets. No. 31 Mueller defeated #46 Pierre-Yves Bailly from Texas in the round of 16, but dropped his match against #19 Trevor Svajda in the quarterfinal. No. 34 Shepp/Mueller faced #3 Tokac/Perego in the doubles round of 16, and fought to the end. The pair of Aggies persevered, taking the match 7-6(9), 7-6(10).

The Huskers will take on the spring season beginning in 2025.

Big Ten Individual Championships Results:

Roni Hietaranta (2-2, 0-3)
R64: BYE
R32: Roni Hietaranta (NEB) def. Maj Premzl (PUR) 6-4, 6-4
R16: Mert Oral (Michigan) def. Roni Hietaranta (NEB) 6-3, 3-6, [10-4]
NE-QF: Deacon Thomas (Indiana) def. Roni Hietaranta (NEB) 6-3, 7-5
Consolation: Roni Hietaranta (NEB) def. Patrik Meszaros (Wisconsin) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles R32: BYE
Doubles R16: Carpico/Filin (Ohio St.) def. Hietaranta/Wells (NEB) 6-3
Doubles N-QF: #62 Nordby/Yang (Northwestern) def. Hietaranta/Wells (NEB) 6-4
Doubles NW-SF: Oral/Steiglehner (Michigan) def. Hietaranta/Wells (NEB) 6-2

Colson Wells (3-2, 0-3)
R64: Braeden Gelletich (Indiana) def. Colson Wells (NEB) 6-1, 6-2
W-R16: Colson Wells (NEB) def. Owen Megargee (Northwestern) 7-5, RET
W-QF: Colson Wells (NEB) def. Reece Yakubov (Ohio St.) 6-3, 6-1
W-F: Colson Wells (NEB) def. Vincent Yang (Northwestern) 6(2)-7, 6-3, [10-6]
Consolation: Sachiv Kumar (Wisconsin) def. Colson Wells (NEB) 6-1, 7-5

Doubles R32: BYE
Doubles R16: Carpico/Filin (Ohio St.) def. Hietaranta/Wells (NEB) 6-3
Doubles N-QF: #62 Nordby/Yang (Northwestern) def. Hietaranta/Wells (NEB) 6-4
Doubles NW-SF: Oral/Steiglehner (Michigan) def. Hietaranta/Wells (NEB) 6-2

Lars Johann (4-1, 2-1)
R64: BYE
R32: Lars Johann (NEB) def. Nick Herdoiza (Northwestern) 7-5, 6-1
R16: Lars Johann (NEB) def. Nicholas Steiglehner (Michigan) 4-6, 7-5, [10-7]
QF: Lars Johann (NEB) def. Michael Minasyan (Wisconsin) 1-6, 6-3, [11-9]
SF: Lars Johann (NEB) def. Juan David Velasquez (PUR) 6-4, 7-6(7)
F: Aleksa Krivokapic (PUR) def. Lars Johann (NEB) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles R32: BYE
Doubles R16: Boulier/Gelletich (Indiana) def. Johann/Linquet (NEB) 6-4
Doubles N-QF: Johann/Linquet (NEB) def. Oral/Steiglehner (Michigan) 6-4
Doubles N-SF: Johann/Linquet (NEB) def. #62 Nordby/Yang (Northwestern) 6-1

Leo Linquet (2-2, 2-1)
R64: BYE
R32: Leo Linquet (NEB) def. Edouard Aubert (Wisconsin) 7-5, 6-2
R16: Aleksa Krivokapic (PUR) def. Leo Linquet (NEB) 6-3, 6-4
NE-QF: Matthew Fullerton (Wisconsin) def. Leo Linquet (NEB) 4-6, 6-1, [10-8]
Consolation: Leo Linquet (NEB) def. Chad Miller (Northwestern) 6-4, 7-5

Doubles R32: BYE
Doubles R16: Boulier/Gelletich (Indiana) def. Johann/Linquet (NEB) 6-4
Doubles N-QF: Johann/Linquet (NEB) def. Oral/Steiglehner (Michigan) 6-4
Doubles N-SF: Johann/Linquet (NEB) def. #62 Nordby/Yang (Northwestern) 6-1

Henry Bilicic (1-4, 3-1)
R64: Deacon Thomas (Indiana) def. Henry Bilicic (NEB) 6-1, 6-2
W-R32: BYE
W-R16: Henry Bilicic (NEB) def. Mujtaba Ali-Khan (PUR) 6-4, 6(5)-7, [10-7]
W-QF: Vincent Yang (Northwestern) def. Henry Bilicic (NEB) 7-6(4), 6-2
Consolation: Sachiv Kumar (Wisconsin) def. Henry Bilicic (NEB) 4-6, 6-1, [10-6]
Consolation: Nick Herdoiza (Northwestern) def. Henry Bilicic (NEB) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles R32: Bilicic/Sysoev (NEB) def. Day/Yakubov (Ohio St.) 6-3
Doubles R16: Andre/Antonescu (Indiana) def. Bilicic/Sysoev (NEB) 6-3
Doubles N-QF: Bilicic/Sysoev (NEB) def. Aubert/Kumar (Wisconsin) 7-5
Doubles N-SF: Bilicic/Sysoev (NEB) def. Pomeranets/Raghavendra (Indiana) 7-6(4)

Nikolay Sysoev (3-1, 3-1)
R64: BYE
R32: Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) def. Collin Beduhn (Wisconsin) 6-1, 7-5
R16: Juan David Velasquez (PUR) def. Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) 7-6(3), 6-3, [10-6]
NE-QF: NIkolay Sysoev (NEB) def. Benjamin Kittay (Michigan) 6-4, 6-1
NE-SF: Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) def. Matthew Fullerton (Wisconsin) 6-1, 7-5 

Doubles R32: Bilicic/Sysoev (NEB) def. Day/Yakubov (Ohio St.) 6-3
Doubles R16: Andre/Antonescu (Indiana) def. Bilicic/Sysoev (NEB) 6-3
Doubles N-QF: Bilicic/Sysoev (NEB) def. Aubert/Kumar (Wisconsin) 7-5
Doubles N-SF: Bilicic/Sysoev (NEB) def. Pomeranets/Raghavendra (Indiana) 7-6(4)

 

ITA Sectional Results:

Anton Shepp (1-2, 0-2)
R32: #114 Anton Shepp (NEB) def. Luis Felipe Miguel (Tulsa) 6-2, 6-3
R16: #7 Gavin Young (Michigan) def. #114 Anton Shepp (NEB) 6-3, 6-1
Consolation: Asahi Harazaki (Oklahoma) def. #114 Anton Shepp (NEB) 0-6, 6-3, [11-9]

Doubles R16: #3  Tokac/Perego (Texas A&M) def. #34 Shepp/Mueller (NEB) 7-6(9), 7-6(10)
Doubles C-QF-Q: Anthrop/Stearns (Ohio St.) def. #34 Shepp/Mueller (NEB) 8-2

Calvin Mueller (2-2, 0-2)
R32: #31 Calvin Mueller (NEB) def. Marko Miladinovic (Baylor) 6-4, 6-2
R16: #31 Calvin Mueller (NEB) def. #46 Pierre-Yves Bailly (Texas) 7-5, 6-3
QF: #19 Trevor Svajda (SMU) def. #31 Calvin Mueller (NEB) 6-1, 6-1
PL-SF: #72 Aristotelis Thanos (Michigan St.) def. #31 Calvin Mueller (NEB) 6-4, 0-6, 7-5

Doubles R16: #3  Tokac/Perego (Texas A&M) def. #34 Shepp/Mueller (NEB) 7-6(9), 7-6(10)
Doubles C-QF-Q: Anthrop/Stearns (Ohio St.) def. #34 Shepp/Mueller (NEB) 8-2