Huskers Fall 4-3 to Huskies in Quarterfinal

Trailing for most of the dual, the #40 Nebraska men’s tennis team put up a late fight in its Big Ten Quarterfinal match against #39 Washington but fell 4-3. The Huskers (15-9) dropped the doubles point early, and could not stop the Huskies (17-7) as the teams split singles.

Roni Hietaranta, Calvin Mueller and Leo Linquet notched wins for NU, but it was not enough to keep the team alive in the Big Ten tournament. Now, the Huskers look to the NCAA Selection Show to learn their tournament fate.

The postseason matchup began with doubles, as Anton Shepp and Henry Bilicic notched a dominant 6-2 win over Suko/Purohit on Court Two. No. 1 doubles Calvin Mueller and Lars Johann battled previously ranked Bouchelaghem/Zharyn, but suffered their first Big Ten loss, 6-4 to the Huskies. From Court Three, Colson Wells and Nikolay Sysoev also fell 6-4, dropping the doubles point.

Starting off singles, three Huskers took their first sets. Hietaranta got NU on the board with his 6-2, 6-0 victory against Belday at No. 5 singles. From Court Four, Sysoev faced Suko, where he battled, but lost 6-4, 6-4. To extend Washington’s lead to 3-1, #38 Bouchelaghem completed a comeback win, 2-6, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 1 singles over Shepp.

No. 67 Mueller took a 6-3, 7-6(2) victory on Court Two, taking down Zharyn in straight sets to keep the Huskers alive. At No. 6 singles, Leo Linquet rallied for a three-set comeback, defeating Pearson 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to tie the team score 3-3. The quarterfinal match came down to Court Three, where Johann battled Purohit. The Husky took four straight games in the final set to claim the singles point, as Johann fell 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.

Senior Hietaranta’s straight-set singles win was his 10th victory of the spring, and 52nd in his career. Linquet also notched his 10th spring singles win, while Mueller tallied his 15th this season.

With the loss, the #40 Huskers fell to 15-9 on the season, and concluded their conference tournament run. The #39 Huskies improved to 17-7, and will face #6 Ohio State in the semifinal match. The 4-3 loss was the second one-point margin defeat of the year for the Big Red, a repeat of the regular season result from Seattle.

Nebraska will find out its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday, April 28, during the selection show at 4:30 p.m. (CT). NU seeks to make its first NCAA tournament since 2011.

Washington 4, Nebraska 3
Singles

1. #38 Cesar Bouchelaghem (WASH) def. Anton Shepp (NEB) 2-6, 6-0, 6-4
2. #67 Calvin Mueller (NEB) def. Dzianis Zharyn (WASH) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
3. Soham Purohit (WASH) def. Lars Johann (NEB) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
4. Nedim Suko (WASH) def. Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) 6-4, 6-4
5. Roni Hietaranta (NEB) def. Rohan Belday (WASH) 6-2, 6-0
6. Leo Linquet (NEB) def. Brett Pearson (WASH) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Doubles

1. Cesar Bouchelaghem/Dzianis Zharyn (WASH) def. Lars Johann/Calvin Mueller (NEB) 6-4
2. Anton Shepp/Henry Bilicic (NEB) def. Nedim Suko/Soham Purohit (WASH) 6-2
3. Brett Pearson/Rohan Belday (WASH) def. Colson Wells/Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) 6-4