Lincoln – The Nebraska women’s tennis team capped a strong close to the Big Ten Conference regular season by sweeping Iowa (6-16, 2-9 Big Ten) 4-0 on Senior Day at the Dillon Tennis Center on Saturday.
The No. 53 Huskers closed regular-season conference play with a 7-4 record while improving to 14-9 overall. Nebraska secured the No. 6 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Women’s Tennis Championship (April 27-May 1) and earned a first-round bye in the 14-team tournament. The Huskers will play the winner of the first-round match between No. 11-seed Purdue and No. 14-seed Rutgers on Thursday, April 28 at Noon in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes, who are playing host to the Big Ten Tournament, fell to 2-9 in the Big Ten and 6-16 overall. They settled for the No. 12 seed in the upcoming tournament.
The Huskers, who have four of their last five matches, started off strong in doubles competition. In the No. 3 spot, Chloe Kuckelman and Isabel Adrover Gallego took the match over Iowa, 6-0. Also defeating the Hawkeyes on Court Three was Ellie Kuckelman and Samantha Alicea, 6-4. In the No. 1 spot, Kristina Novak and Maja Makoric’s 5-4 battle against Samantha Mannix and Samantha Gillas resulted in an unfinished match.
To start singles play, Ellie played in the No. 6 spot over coming the match Bacalla, 6-0, 7-5. Chloe followed suit in the No. 5 spot with a 6-0, 6-4 win. Novak, playing in the No. 1 spot, won 7-6, 6-2 to clinch the conference win for the Huskers. At the No. 2 spot, Adrover Gallego resulted in an unfinished match to Pokorna 6-8,5-4. Alicea competed in the No. 4 spot against Hawkeyes’ Mehra battling a two-set match,5-7,5-3,unfinished. In the No. 3 spot, Makoric fell short in the first set 5-7,5-3 leaving the match unfinished.
Nebraska 4, Iowa 0
Singles competition
1. Kristina Novak (NEB) def. Marisa Schmidt (IOWA) 7-6, 6-2
2. Isabel A. Gallego (NEB) vs. Barbora Pokorna (IOWA) 6-7, 6-4, unfinished
3. Maja Makoric (NEB) vs. Samantha Mannix (IOWA) 5-7, 6-3, unfinished
4. Samantha Alicea (NEB) vs. Vipasha Mehra (IOWA) 7-5, 4-2, unfinished
5. Chloe Kuckelman (NEB) def. Samantha Gillas (IOWA) 6-0, 6-4
6. Ellie Kuckelman (NEB) def. Michelle Bacalla (IOWA) 6-0, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Maja Makoric/Kristina Novak (NEB) def. Samantha Mannix/Samantha Gillas (IOWA) 5-4
2. Isabel…
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