EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 4-seed Illinois men’s tennis lost to No. 5-seed Nebraska, 4-2, Friday afternoon in the Big Ten Tournament hosted by Northwestern.
The Illini fall to 16-9 overall while Nebraska goes to 17-9 on the year.
“Huge credit to Nebraska,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “I thought they played a great match. We put pressure on them at every position and they responded. We fought hard, but we didn’t manage certain moments as well as we could and Nebraska just kept coming. Again, big credit to them.”
Illinois claimed the doubles point with back-to-back wins. First, Lucas Horve and Oliver Okonkwo defeated Nic Wiedenhorn and Anton Shepp, 6-4, followed by Mathis Debru and Kenta Miyoshi beating Calvin Mueller and Lars Johann, 7-5.
Following a Miyoshi loss, Okonkwo put the Illini’s only other point on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Johann.
Tyler Bowers, Hunter Heck and Alex Petrov all went on to lose their matches in three sets, with Debru’s going unfinished in the third set tie breaker.
Up Next
Illinois awaits their fate in the NCAA Tournament with the Selection Show being aired on Monday at 5 p.m. CT on ncaa.com.
Results
Doubles competition
1. #43 Lucas Horve/Oliver Okonkwo (ILL) def. Nic Wiedenhorn/Anton Shepp (NEB) 6-4
2. Mathis Debru/Kenta Miyoshi (ILL) def. Calvin Mueller/Lars Johann (NEB) 7-5
3. Hunter Heck/Alex Petrov (ILL) vs. Leo Linquet/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) 6-6 (1-1), unfinished
Singles…
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