NU Drops Road Match to No. 24 OU

Norman, Okla. – The Nebraska men’s tennis team (1-2, 0-0 Big Ten) dropped its first road match of the season to the No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) 5-2 at the Headington Family Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.

Doubles action kicked things off, as Oklahoma’s Alex Martinez and Welsh Hotard knocked off Dario Huber and Victor Moreno Lozano, 6-1. The Sooners followed with a victory in the No. 3 spot as Nathan Han and Mason Beiler defeated the Huskers’ Rudra Dixit and Shunya Maruyama. William Gleason and Nic Wiedenhorn battled in the No. 2 spot before the match was called at 4-1, and the doubles point was awarded to Oklahoma.

Roni Hietaranta continued his impressive start to the spring season, picking up his third-straight win. A victory over OU’s Jordan Hasson, 6-4, 7-5, gave Hietaranta a perfect 3-0 record to begin his campaign. The Lappeenranta, Finland native now has 11 total wins stretching across both the fall and spring seasons. Nic Wiedenhorn gathered the second win for the Huskers after he battled Anselmo Batiste to tiebreaks in both sets. Wiedenhorn persevered in both, winning the first, 12-10, and the second, 10-8. 

In the No. 2 spot Huber battled to force a tiebreaker in the first set, but eventually fell just short. Lozano then followed suit to force a third-set tiebreaker of his own and Hotard split the first two sets. After a back-and-forth battle, Lozano dropped the match following an 8-6 loss in the tiebreaker set. Gleason and Maruyama lost in consecutive sets, in the No. 1 and No. 4 spots respectively.

Up next, the Huskers will return home to take on Drake this Saturday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center.

Sunday, Jan. 23 Results

Oklahoma 5, Nebraska 2

Singles Competition:

1. Mason Beiler (OU) def. William Gleason (NEB) 6-2, 6-3

2. Alex Martinez (OU) def. Dario Huber (NEB) 7-6 (2), 6-1

3. Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) def. Anselmo Baptiste (OU) 7-6 (10), 7-6 (6)

4. Mark Mandlik (OU) def. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) 6-2, 6-3

5. Roni Hietaranta (NEB) def. Jordan Hasson (OU) 6-4, 7-5

6. Welsh Hotard (OU) def. Victor Moreno Lozano (NEB) 6-7 (1), 6-3, (10-8)

Doubles Competition:

1. Alex Martinez/Welsh Hotard (OU) def. Dario Huber/Victor Moreno Lozano (NEB) 6-1

2. Mark Mandlik/Baptiste Anselmo (OU) vs. William Gleason/Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) 4-1, unfinished

3. Nathan Han/Mason Beiler (OU) def. Rudra Dixit/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) 6-1

Match Notes:

Oklahoma (5-0); National Ranking #24

Nebraska (1-2)

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