Huskers Sweep Bluejays, 7-0 – University of Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska men’s tennis team (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) opened up its season with a resounding 7-0 win over Creighton (1-0, 0-0 Big East) at the Dillon Tennis Center on Saturday evening.

The action started with doubles play where the Huskers’ No. 3 pairing of Leo Linquet and Lars Johann, each making their collegiate debut, knocked off Creighton’s Shin Inoue and Ricky Rubio, 6-1.

In the No. 2 spot, Roni Hietaranta and Shunya Maruyama clinched the doubles point for the Big Red by taking down the Creighton duo of Zachary Kuo and Casey Ross, 6-3.

With the Huskers having already won the doubles point, the teams decided to play out the No. 1 doubles match, with Creighton’s Alejandro Gandini and Matthew Lanahan besting NU’s Nic Wiedenhorn and William Gleason, 7-6 (3).

In singles play, Linquet defeated Lanahan, 6-2, 6-5, on Court 3, giving NU its second overall match point and Linquet’s first collegiate singles win. On Court 2, Maruyama picked up the third match point for the Huskers beating Gandini, 6-1, 6-0.

Johann clinched Nebraska’s first team win of the season on Court 6, taking down Rubio, 6-0, 6-4. Like Linquet, this was Lohann’s first collegiate solo win. Each player proved to be a valuable contributor in the Big Red season opener.

The three remaining single matches continued to battle it out after the Huskers clinched the necessary four points. On Court 1, No. 75 Hietaranta beat Ross, 6-3, 6-3. Gleason had a long three-set contest, which saw him beat Kirtan Patel, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 [13-11].

The Huskers finished off their sweep with Rudi Christiansen collecting the seventh and final point with a win over Inoue, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 1-0 [10-1].

Up next, the Big Red will travel to Clemson, S.C., for a pair of matches, as the team faces South Alabama on Saturday, Jan. 28 and Clemson on Sunday, Jan. 29.

Creighton vs Nebraska

Jan 21, 2023 at Lincoln, Nebraska (Dillon Tennis Center)

Nebraska 7, Creighton 0

Singles competition

1. #75 Roni Hietaranta (NEB) def. Casey Ross (CU) 6-3, 6-3

2. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Alejandro Gandini (CU) 6-1, 6-0

3. Leo Linquet (NEB) def. Matthew Lanahan (CU) 6-2, 6-0

4. Rudi Christiansen (NEB) def. Shin Inoue (CU) 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-1)

5. William Gleason (NEB) def. Kirtan Patel (CU) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (13-11)

6. Lars Johann (NEB) def. Ricky Rubio (CU) 6-0, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Alejandro Gandini/Matthew Lanahan (CU) def. Nic Wiedenhorn/William Gleason (NEB) 7-6 (6-3)

2. Roni Hietaranta/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) def. Zachary Kuo/Casey Ross (CU) 6-3

3. Lars Johann/Leo Linquet (NEB) def. Shin Inoue/Ricky Rubio (CU) 6-1

Match Notes:

Creighton 0-1

Nebraska 1-0

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

A-147