Huskers Drop Matches to Mustangs, Mavericks

Lincoln, Neb. – The Nebraska men’s tennis team (3-5, 0-0 Big Ten) dropped two matches as it faced both SMU (5-3, 0-0 AAC) and Omaha (6-6, 0-0 Summit League) on Sunday at the Dillon Tennis Center. 

Nebraska started the day with SMU and began the matchup with doubles play. All three matches were closely contested, as two of them went to tiebreaker sets. The Huskers’ Victor Moreno Lozano and Nic Wiedenhorn began with a victory in the No. 1 spot over SMU’s Adam Neff and Ivan Thamma, 6-4. It came down to the last two doubles matches, but it was Patrick Cacciatore and Shunya Maruyama who secured the doubles point for Nebraska after a 7-6 win. They came out victorious in the tiebreaker 9-7, coming back in the set after being down 5-2 at one point. Rudra Dixit and Roni Hietaranta also battled the Mustangs’ Liam Krall and Pranav Kumar to a tiebreaker, but the match was unfinished in the tiebreak set at 5-5.

In singles action, Neff evened the match at one for the Mustangs after taking down William Gleason in the No. 2 spot, 6-4, 6-1. Shortly after, Maruyama continued his recent success as he defeated Julian Steinhausen in consecutive sets, 6-3, 6-3, to give Nebraska a 2-1 lead. Calvin Mueller fell in a three-set battle with Krall, losing the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Mueller won the second set and was up 2-0 in the final set, before ultimately falling short.

Lozano dispatched of Thamma in consecutive sets, with the second set going to a tiebreaker where Lozano was victorious 7-1. However, SMU took the final two singles matches to win the contest as Caleb Chakravarthi bested Dario Huber in the No. 1 spot, and then Kumar handed Hietaranta his first loss of the spring season, defeating him 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5).

The Huskers finished the day with a match against Omaha in a game rescheduled from Jan. 15. Doubles play kicked things off as Gleason and Chester Wickwire took down UNO’s Todd Chen and Victor Sklenka, 6-1. The Mavericks evened the point with a victory in the No. 1 spot, but the Huskers took the doubles point after Cacciatore and Maruyama won 7-6, including an 8-6 victory in the deciding tiebreaker.

In singles action, Maruyama continued his fantastic day with a win over Hugo Piles in the No. 4 spot, 6-0, 6-1. Dixit then competed in his lone singles match of the day, losing narrowly to Chenn, 6-4, 6-2, to trim the Husker lead to 2-1. Davis Lawley tied the match at two after his victory in the No. 2 spot over Gleason, winning in consecutive sets 6-4, 6-2. Hietaranta lost his second singles match of the day to Mikhail Korkunov in three sets. He took the second set, 6-4, but ultimately came up just short in the third and deciding set. Wickwire then won his first singles match of the spring after his doubles victory earlier, knocking off Sklenka, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to tie the match at three. Matt Hulme clinched the victory for Omaha as he took down Mueller in the No. 1 spot.

Up next, the Huskers will travel to the Blue-Grey National Tennis Classic next weekend in Montgomery, Alabama, with the tournament being held Feb. 25-26.

Sunday, Feb. 20 Results

SMU 4, Nebraska 3

Singles Competition:

1. Caleb Chakravarthi (SMU) def. Dario Huber (NEB) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

2. Adam Neff (SMU) def. William Gleason (NEB) 6-4, 6-1

3. Liam Krall (SMU) def. Calvin Mueller (NEB) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

4. Pranav Kumar (SMU) def. Roni Hietaranta (NEB) 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5)

5. Victor Moreno Lozano (NEB) def. Ivan Thamma (SMU) 7-5, 7-6(1)

6. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Julian Steinhausen (SMU) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles Competition:

1. Victor Moreno Lozano/Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) def. Adam Neff/Ivan Thamma (SMU) 6-4

2. Rudra Dixit/Roni Hietaranta (NEB) vs. Liam Krall/Pranav Kumar (SMU) 6-6 (5-5), unfinished

3. Patrick Cacciatore/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Huntely Allen/Julian Steinhousen (SMU) 7-6(7)

Match Notes:

Nebraska (3-4)

SMU (5-3)

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

Omaha 4, Nebraska 3

Singles Competition:

1. Matt Hulme (UNO) def. Calvin Mueller (NEB) 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3

2. Davis Lawley (UNO) def. William Gleason (NEB) 6-4, 6-2

3. Mikhail Korkunov (UNO) def. Roni Hietaranta (NEB) 6-1, 4-6, 7-5

4. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Hugo Piles (UNO) 6-0, 6-1

5. Todd Chen (UNO) def. Rudra Dixit (NEB) 6-4, 6-2

6. Chester Wickiwre (NEB) def. Victor Sklenka (UNO) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1

Doubles Competition:

1. Ethan Henry/Matt Hulme (UNO) def. Rudra Dixit/Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) 6-4

2. Patrick Cacciatore/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Davis Lawley/Hugo Piles (UNO) 7-6(6)

3. William Gleason/Chester Wickwire (NEB) def. Todd Chen/Victor Sklenka (UNO) 6-1

Match Notes:

Nebraska (3-5)

Omaha (6-6)

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