Story by NU Athletic Communications
The Nebraska men’s tennis team improved to 4-0 on Sunday as the Huskers defeated Omaha and Creighton in the second double header of the season at Dillon Tennis Center.
The Big Red faced Omaha first, the 46th matchup between NU and Omaha. No. 3 doubles Shunya Maruyama and Leo Linquet got an early lead in their set, up 5-0. After dropping a game to Mavericks Quintan Van Wijk and Mikel Garmendia, the Husker pair took the match-winning game to finish it 6-1. On Court Two, Calvin Mueller and Nikolay Sysoev defeated Omaha’s Gabe Whiston and Ethan Gaubert, 6-2. No. 1 Anton Shepp and Nic Wiedenhorn faced Mavericks Mikhail Korkunov and Bryan Kuntz in an unfinished 5-3 match on Court One.In singles, senior Rudi Christiansen cleaned up on Court Six, defeating Omaha’s Whiston 6-0, 6-0. Next to finish was Linquet in the No. 4 slot, taking down Ethan Gaubert 6-1, 6-2. Shepp took the next singles point on Court Two, where he defeated Quintan Van Wijk 6-3, 6-2. Wiedenhorn took on Maverick Mikel Garmienda and won 6-2, 6-4. Mueller and Maruyama were the last on, competing in the No. 1 and No. 3 slots respectively. Mueller defeated Korkunov 7-5, 6-2, and Maruyama won his match against Bryan Kunta 6-4, 6-2. The Huskers won the dual 7-0, its 36th win in the series.
Next up, the Huskers took on the Creighton Bluejays for the second time in the 2023-24 season. Linquet and Maruyama grabbed a quick 6-3 win on Court Three against CU’s Gandini and Daijima. Court One pushed into a 6-6 tiebreak, where Shepp and Wiedenhorn could not outlast Lanahan and Maline, dropping the seventh game, final score 6-7, [7-9]. Down to Court Two for the doubles point, Mueller and Sysoev secured the win 7-5.
In singles, Shepp took the first singles win in the No. 2 slot against Lanahan. Lanahan’s match against Mueller in the previous matchup between the teams went three sets. Shepp defeated Lanahan 6-4, 6-2. Next to finish was Mueller on Court One, defeating Patel 6-0, 6-2.
With only one point to go for the win, Maruyama competed in the No. 3 slot and took on Bluejay Gandini. After being down 1-4 in the first set, the senior came back to win six games in a row to take a 6-4, 1-0 lead. Maruyama defeated Gandini 6-4, 6-1 to secure the third singles point, and match winning point for the Big Red. NU won the dual 4-0 and improved to 4-0 on the season.
Up next, the Huskers hit the road for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend held in Lexington, Ky. NU will face Alabama first on Jan. 26, and either #10 Kentucky or Notre Dame the following day. Times are TBA, and more live video and stats information will be shared as it becomes available. Stay tuned to team social media and Huskers.com for updates and content. The rest of the 2023-24 Nebraska Men’s Tennis Schedule can be found here.