Huskers Roll Past Tritons in California

The #56 Nebraska men’s tennis team continued its strong start to the season with a 6-1 victory over UC San Diego on Saturday. The win improved the Huskers’ record to 9-4, tying their best 13-match start since the 2018 campaign.

Nebraska took control early by capturing the doubles point. The duo of Shunya Maruyama and Nikolay Sysoev cruised to a 6-1 win on court three. Anton Shepp and Nic Wiedenhorn followed with a 6-4 victory on court one to clinch the doubles point.

Shepp, ranked #120 nationally, led the way in singles with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Phillip Lan on the top court. Sysoev (6-1, 6-2), Maruyama (6-1, 6-2), Calvin Mueller (7-6, 6-1), and Rudi Christiansen (6-3, 6-2) also prevailed in straight sets for Nebraska.

The Huskers won eight total sets by a margin of 4 games or more in the convincing team victory. Maruyama and Sysoev improved their doubles record as a pair to 2-0 this spring with their lopsided win.

Shepp now stands at 11-2 in spring singles matches, while Maruyama is 8-3 and Christiansen 5-3. Nebraska’s nine wins have already matched its 2022 total.

The Huskers continue their California road trip with a neutral-site match against #55 Yale in Santa Barbara on Wednesday. They’ll face #53 UC Santa Barbara on Friday before beginning Big Ten play on March 22.

With the fast start, optimism is building for Nebraska to make some noise in the rugged Big Ten and return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019.