Huskers Head to ITA Sectionals, Big Ten Individuals

The Nebraska men’s tennis team is taking on the ITA Sectional and Big Ten Individual Championship tournaments this week, each competition running Nov. 7-10. Seniors Anton Shepp and Calvin Mueller will represent the Big Red at the ITA Sectional Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. Huskers Henry Bilicic, Nikolay Sysoev, Roni Hietaranta, Colson Wells, Lars Johann and Leo Lopez Linquet will compete at the Big Ten Individual Championships in Madison, Wisc.

In the final tournaments of the regular fall season, the Big Red look to improve their fall records and earn titles and even NCAA spots. The ITA Sectionals Tournament is the last chance for players to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships.

In Texas, a total of 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams comprise the field. From the tournament, six singles players (semifinalists, two quarterfinal playoff winners) and three doubles teams (finalists, third place) advance to the NCAA Championships. The Huskers will compete among the Central, Midwest and Texas ITA regions. Play will begin with doubles each day at 9 a.m. local time at the Bartzen Varsity Courts and be livestreamed on PlaySight. Shepp and Mueller enter the tournament as two of the three Huskers in preseason rankings, and the only ranked Big Red doubles duo.

In Wisconsin, NU will compete in singles and doubles play, with four days of action. Hosted by the Wisconsin Badgers, the Championships will take place at the Nielsen Tennis stadium, and matches will be live streamed via PlaySight. In the doubles draw, Bilicic and Sysoev, Hietaranta and Wells, and Johann and Linquet are set to compete. All six Huskers will also take on the singles draw.