Huskers Head to West Coast for #31 USC, #24 UCLA

The No. 45 Nebraska men’s tennis team (9-6, 1-3) will go west to California to take on No. 31 USC (10-4, 2-1) on Friday, March 20 at 5 p.m. (CT) at the David X. Marks Tennis Center in Los Angeles, Calif. The Huskers will then stay in Los Angeles to take on No. 24 UCLA (9-3, 3-0) on Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m. (CT) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. 

Nebraska is coming off a split weekend against No. 9 Illinois and No. 44 Northwestern. The Huskers fell short to Illinois after winning the doubles point but losing four singles matches to drop that match 4-1. NU did the opposite vs. Northwestern when the Huskers lost the doubles point but came back and won four singles matches to knock off Northwestern, 4-2. 

Freshman Jeri Lassila continues to lead the team in his first season with Nebraska with 12 singles wins. Senior Leo Linquet follows closely behind him with 11. In doubles, junior Henry Lamchinniah won his 12th doubles match last weekend in Nebraska’s loss vs. Illinois which leads the team so far this season.  

The Rankings
Nebraska heads to California with a No. 45 team ranking, its second highest of the season. The Huskers moved up from their previous rank of No. 51 after a split weekend at home. The Huskers look at their fifth straight week of being a ranked team in the ITA rankings. 

For the first time this season, senior Nikolay Sysoev holds a singles rank of No. 81 with an 8-7 record and is the first Husker to earn an individual ranking. 

USC (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten)
History: Nebraska leads the series against USC, 1-0 with the first and only meeting being last season where the Huskers upset the No. 26 Trojans, 4-2 in Lincoln. 

USC has ranked wins vs. No. 15 and  No. 23 California, No. 24 Pepperdine and No. 22 UCLA. When it comes to losses, all come to ranked teams except for one match against unranked San Diego.  

UCLA (9-3, 3-0 Big Ten)
History: UCLA leads the series against Nebraska, 1-0 with the Bruins taking the only meeting against these teams last season in Lincoln, 4-1.

UCLA holds some impressive victories with ranked wins vs. No. 23 California, No. 24 Pepperdine, No. 9 San Diego, No. 46 Purdue and the Bruins' most recent win coming over No. 25 USC. Two of UCLA's three losses are to ranked teams  

Ranked Opponents
The Bruins squad features three ranked singles players and three ranked doubles squads. In singles, No. 33 Emon Van Loben Sels carries a record of 14-5 on the season. About 30 spots behind him is No. 66 Spencer Johnson who also has a record of 14-5. Rounding out the singles rankings for UCLA is No. 119 Rudy Quan who has a record of 13-3. In doubles, Johnson/Van Loben Sels hold a No. 32 ranking with a 9-2 record. Closely behind them is the pair of Quan/Aadarsh Tripathi who show a No. 39 ranking and 7-3 record. Finally, Tripathi carries with him another doubles rank with Johnson at No. 73 and a 3-4 record. 

Watch the Action
Nebraska men’s tennis matches vs. USC/UCLA will both be live streamed along with live stats which will both be available at USC’s and UCLA’s athletic websites.

USC: usctrojans.com
UCLA: gobruins.com 

Live stats and video links can also be found linked on huskers.com, as well as live updates on X @HuskerMTennis.