La Jolla, Calif. - With its 6-1 defeat over UCSD Saturday evening, the #56 Nebraska men’s tennis team improves to 9-4 on the season. The ninth victory ties the team’s best program start since the 2018 season. NU has two more matches in California in the upcoming week before beginning Big Ten conference play on March 22.
At the Northview Tennis Courts, home of UCSD, the Huskers took on the Tritons for their 13th match of the season. In doubles, Court Three’s Shunya Maruyama and Nikolay Sysoev took on Eric Silberman and Jett Cole, and defeated the duo 6-1. Next to finish was the No. 1 duo, Anton Shepp and Nic Wiedenhorn, matched up against Zach Pellouchoud and Pelayo Rodriguez. NU took the 6-4 victory, and the doubles point with the win. Calvin Mueller and Lars Johann’s match on Court Two was left unfinished, at 5-4.
In singles play, recently ranked #120 Anton Shepp made quick work of Phillip Lan on Court One, taking the first singles win, 6-1, 6-0. Sysoev played in the No. 6 slot and defeated Cole, 6-1, 6-2. Next to finish was Maruyama on Court Three, winning 6-1, 6-2, over Rodriguez, to clinch the match victory for the Big Red. Mueller had a tight first set, but dominated the second to win 7-6, 6-1. Chrisitiansen played Court Five, and defeated Charles Qian, 6-3, 6-2. Johann played in the No. 4 slot and found a close match against Pellouchoud. Johann dropped the first set, rallied to take the second, and fell just short in the tiebreaker, dropping the match, 3-6, 6-3, 0-1[8-10].
With the win over the Tritons, the Big Red improved to 9-4 on the season, the best 13-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 Sysoev partnered for their eighth time, and improved to 2-0 in the spring season with their dominant 6-1 win. Nationally ranked Shepp tallied another win in singles, pushing his spring record with the Huskers to 11-2. Maruyama improved to 8-3 in spring singles, and Christiansen to 5-3.
Next up, #56 Nebraska will face #55 Yale for a neutral match at UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, March 13 at noon (CT). On Friday, the Huskers will take on #53 UC Santa Barbara before starting conference play.
#56 Nebraska 6, UC San Diego 1
Doubles:
1. Anton Shepp/Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) def. Zach Pellouchoud/Pelayo Rodriguez (UCSD), 6-4
2. Calvin Mueller/Lars Johann (NEB) vs. Daniel Traxler/William Lan (UCSD), 5-4
3. Shunya Maruyama/Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) def. Eric Silberman/Jett Cole (UCSD), 6-1
Singles:
1. Anton Shepp (NEB) def. Phillip Lan (UCSD), 6-1, 6-0
2. Calvin Mueller (NEB) def. Diogo Tinoco (UCSD), 7-6, 6-1
3. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Pelayo Rodriguez (UCSD), 6-1, 6-2
4. Zach Pellouchoud (UCSD) def. Lars Johann (NEB), 6-3, 3-6, 10-8
5. Rudi Christiansen (NEB) def. Charles Qian (UCSD), 6-3, 6-2
6. Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) def. Jett Cole (UCSD), 6-1, 6-2