After making it to the program’s first ever Big Ten Tournament Semifinal, the Nebraska men’s tennis team’s 2023-24 season has concluded. The Huskers (17-10, 5-4 Big Ten) ended their campaign with the most single-season wins since 1990, after being consistently ranked, and developing several stand-outs.
As of May 2, NU concludes the season within the Top 50 teams nationally at No. 49. The final win of the season was a 4-2 upset over the #26 Fighting Illini, which pushed the Big Red to accomplish 17 wins in the 2023-24 season, the most in the past 34 years. The Huskers also made their first and only appearance in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and claimed the winningest men’s season at the Dillon Tennis Center with an 11-3 home record.
Off the courts, all 11 Huskers were named the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team, and for the third-straight year, the men’s tennis team received the Herman GPA Award. The honor is given to the team with the highest GPA across Husker athletics, and men’s tennis has won the award 11 times total, tied with cross country for the most by a team.
Numerous Huskers had seasons to remember, setting records, concluding careers, and claiming accolades.
Junior Calvin Mueller had an outstanding and decorated season, reaching 27 singles wins and being named to the All-Big Ten First Team. Mueller was named Big Ten Player of the Week twice in the season, the only current Husker to do so. The international business administration major was most recently ranked No. 71, the highest Husker ranking since 2012, with records of 27-12 in singles and 18-12 in doubles. The 2023 Big Ten Individual Singles Champion tallied six ranked-upset wins against conference opponents, most notably taking down #34 Ronald Hohman, #28 Justin Boulais and #42 Hunter Heck. Mueller was also named to the Big Ten Tournament team. His 27 singles wins notch Mueller at No. 5 in program history for top singles wins in a season.
Anton Shepp was the other Husker to receive the Big Ten Player of the Week, consistently playing No. 1 doubles, and No. 1 or No. 2 singles. The junior reached 45 career singles wins and 46 career doubles wins in his first season with the Big Red. The UT-Arlington transfer put up two ranked wins in singles, #51 Enzo Aguiard and #99 Kenta Miyoshi, both in straight sets. Shepp, partnered with Nic Wiedenhorn, also claimed two ranked doubles wins, against #31 Burton/Vandecasteele and #35 Lutschaunig/Boulais. Shepp and Wiedenhorn were ranked nationally at No. 74 on May 2 by ITA.
Senior captain Shunya Maruyama tallied 20 singles wins in his fifth season with the Big Red, to tally a combined total of 137 singles and doubles wins as a Husker. Maruyama also claimed the No. 8 spot on the top career singles wins record list, with 70 career singles wins.
Senior captain Nic Wiedenhorn reached 46 career doubles wins in his final campaign with the Big Red. Roni Hietaranta reached 40 career singles wins, and captain Lars Johann tallied his 30th.
Despite a strong finish, the Huskers did not make it to the NCAA tournament, and have not had an appearance since 2011. The Big Red will begin its 2024-25 campaign in the fall, with individual competition.
Stay tuned to the Husker Men’s Tennis social media channels to keep up with team updates and content as available.