Lincoln, Neb. - The No. 58 Nebraska men’s tennis team (8-4, 0-0 Big Ten), won the weekend at home with its 5-2 victory over No. 56 Tulsa (3-7, 0-0 American). The Big Red defeated Texas Tech, 4-1, on Friday and made it a 2-0 week, with the upset win over Tulsa.
In doubles against Tulsa, Court Three Leo Linquet and Shunya Maruyama had a close start, splitting their first four games, 2-2. Linquet and Maruyama took over the rest of the match against Alex Okonkwo and Victor Tosetto, to take four-straight games and the match, 6-2. No. 2 doubles duo Calvin Mueller and Lars Johann battled, but fell, 4-6, to Callum Gale and Gus Tettamble. With doubles wins split, the point came down to Court One. Huskers duo Anton Shepp and Nic Wiedenhorn faced ranked No. 55 Pierce Rollins and Timothy Carlsson Seger. Shepp and Wiedenhorn had a tough start, but did not back down despite their 2-5 start to the set. Shepp and Wiedenhorn fought their way into a set tiebreak, however, fell 6(6)-7.
After dropping the doubles point, the Big Red had a dominant start to singles play. Five Huskers took their first set, and Shepp took the first singles win for NU. Shepp, competing in the No. 1 slot, defeated Rollins, 6-2, 6-2. On Court Three, Maruyama was next to finish, and win, taking down Okonkwo, 6-2, 6-1. Christiansen cleaned up on Court Six, winning over Tettamble, 6-1, 6-2. Mueller played the No. 2 slot, and clinched the Big Red victory with his 6-2, 6-4 win over Gale. Sysoev tallied another point for NU with a dominant second set, defeating Tosetto, 7-5, 6-2. Johann faced Carlsson Seger for what proved to be a tight matchup on Court Four. Johann and Carlsson Seger battled into a 10-point tiebreaker, but Johann fell, 6(1)-7, 7-6(4), 1-0 [8-10].
With the win over the Golden Hurricane, the Big Red improved to 8-4 on the season, and 2-0 on the weekend. The 8-4 record is the best 12-match program start since 2018. Five Huskers won their singles matches in straight sets, eight sets won with a margin of four or more games. No. 3 doubles duo Maruyama and Linquet improved to 7-3 in the spring season with their 6-2 win. Shepp tallied another win in singles, pushing his spring record with the Huskers to 10-2.
Up next, the Huskers hit the road for five away matches, including the start of conference play. On Saturday, March 9, NU will face UC San Diego at 5:30 p.m. (CT).
#58 Nebraska 5, #56 Tulsa 2
Singles competition
1. Anton Shepp (NEB) def. Pierce Rollins (TLS) 6-2, 6-2
2. Calvin Mueller (NEB) def. Callum Gale (TLS) 6-2, 6-4
3. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Alex Okonkwo (TLS) 6-2, 6-1
4. Timothy Seger (TLS) def. Lars Johann (NEB) 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (4-7), 1-0 (10-8)
5. Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) def. Victor Tosetto (TLS) 7-5, 6-2
6. Rudi Christiansen (NEB) def. Gus Tettamble (TLS) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #55 Pierce Rollins/Timothy Seger (TLS) def. Anton Shepp/Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) 7-6 (8-6)
2. Callum Gale/Gus Tettamble (TLS) def. Calvin Mueller/Lars Johann (NEB) 6-4
3. Leo Linquet/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Alex Okonkwo/Victor Tosetto (TLS) 6-2