West Lafayette, Ind. – The #62 Nebraska men’s tennis team (15-8, 4-3 Big Ten) reached the most single-season wins for the program in 13 years with its 5-2 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers (7-13, 2-5 Big Ten) on Sunday. In their final road match of the regular season, the Huskers got an early lead with the doubles point and delivered in singles to secure their fourth conference win.
The conference dual began with doubles at the Schwartz Tennis Center. Nationally ranked #81 Anton Shepp and Nic Wiedenhorn claimed the first win for NU, taking down Soham Purohit and Juan Velasquez, 6-3, on Court One. Shepp and Wiedenhorn were down 2-3 early, but took four-straight games to claim the match. Shunya Maruyama and Leo Linquet partnered at No. 3 doubles and defeated Mujtaba Ali-Khan and Daniel Labrador, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point for the Big Red. On Court Two, Lars Johann and Calvin Mueller faced Stefan Simeunovic and Henrik Villanger, but the match was left unfinished at 5-3.
Headed into singles with the lead, five Huskers won their first sets for a strong start. Johann took the first singles win for the Big Red, defeating Velasquez with a dominant 6-2, 6-1, on Court Four. Next to finish was Shepp, playing the No. 2 slot against Purohit. Shepp took down the Boilermaker 6-2, 6-2, to make the match score Nebraska 3, Purdue 0. Linquet faced Labrador on Court Five and clinched the match for the Big Red with a 6-1, 6-4 win. On Court One, Mueller battled Simeunovic, but fell 4-6, 2-6. Maruyama was next to finish at No. 3 singles, defeating Villanger 6-1, 6-3. Hietaranta took on Ali-Khan on court Six, and fell in a tiebreaker, 6-3, 4-6, [8-10]. The final score of the match was 5-2, Nebraska.
With the win, the Huskers improved to 15-8 (4-3 Big Ten), which is a program best for the last 13 seasons. Fifteen wins is the most for the Big Red since 2011, when the team finished 15-13 (1-5 Big 12). Doubles duo Shunya Maruyama and Leo Linquet also improved to 9-4 in the No. 3 slot, also holding a 3-1 Big Ten record. Maruyama improved to 13-5 in spring singles, and Shepp reached a 9-2 record at No. 2 with his win over Purohit.
Up next, the Huskers return home for their final regular season matches against Big Ten foes #1 Ohio State and Penn State. The Big Red host top-ranked Ohio State on Friday, April 19, with first serve set for 5 p.m. (CT). On Sunday, April 21, the Huskers will celebrate Senior Day at their final home match. Nebraska will take on Penn State at noon…
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