Huskers Prepare for Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic

Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-5) vs. Princeton Tigers (6-4)
Friday, Feb. 25 at 8:30 a.m. CT
O’ Connor Tennis Center (Montgomery, Ala.)
Live Stats: http://www.bluegraytennis.com/scores/

Friday, Feb. 25 at 12:30 p.m. CT
O’ Connor Tennis Center/Lagoon Tennis Center (Montgomery, Ala.)
Live Stats: http://www.bluegraytennis.com/scores/

The Nebraska men’s tennis team looks to get back on track after home losses to SMU and Omaha, as the Huskers travel down south to the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic. The Huskers take on Princeton on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. CT in Montgomery, Alabama. 

Nebraska drew the No. 6 seed in the tournament as they do battle with No. 3 Princeton. Depending on the result of the first match, the Huskers will either take on the winner or loser of No. 2 Auburn vs No. 7 VCU at 12:30 p.m.. On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Arizona takes on No. 8 Alabama and No. 4 Middle Tennessee faces No. 5 Tulane. Fans can find a link to the bracket here.

 

Live stats are available using the link provided above. Updates will be posted to Huskers.com and @HuskerMTennis on Twitter.

Scouting Princeton

• The Tigers enter Friday’s matchup with a 6-4 record , winning five of their last six matches.

• Princeton has two players on the ITA Top-125 Singles Rankings List, No. 68 Karl Poling and No. 113 Justin Barki.

• Last weekend, the Tigers placed third at the ECAC Championships, capturing third place after knocking off Cornell, 4-2.

• For the 2022-23 season, Princeton currently holds the No. 3 recruiting class in the nation, led by Fnu “Top” Nidunjianzan who is the No. 2 ranked junior in China.

 

Tournament History

• This is the first meeting between the Huskers and the Tigers in history, as the two storied programs have never met on the tennis court.

• The Huskers last competed in the Blue-Gray tournament in 2013, where they ended with a 1-2 record.

• In that tournament, Nebraska defeated Troy, 4-1, but dropped matches to Boise State and Columbia.

 

Up Next

• The Huskers will travel to the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships in San Diego with matches taking place on March 4-6.

 

Hietaranta Continues Strong 2022 Campaign

• Roni Hietaranta started the year off strong, winning his first six singles matches to begin the season with a 6-0 record. Dating back to the fall, he now has 14 total singles wins which marks the most on the team thus far.

• On Jan. 25, Hietaranta was named Big Ten Co-Athlete of the Week after singles wins over Baylor and Oklahoma. He knocked off the No. 54 ranked singles competitor in the nation, defeating Oklahoma’s Jordan Hasson, 6-4, 7-5. The Lappeenranta, Finland native also defeated Baylor’s Cole Gromley in the No. 6 spot, 6-1, 6-3.

• Two weeks ago, Hietaranta rallied back from a 4-2 hole to knock off Wichita State’s Orel Ovil and clinch the victory for the Huskers. He won the singles match against Ovil 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.