Huskers Fall 4-3 at Huskies

In a tight Big Ten matchup, the No. 38 Nebraska men’s tennis team fell just short on Friday night, losing 4-3 to the No. 43 Washington Huskies. The Huskers (12-7, 5-4 Big Ten) claimed the doubles point and two singles wins, including a ranked upset for Anton Shepp. However, it was not enough to stop UW, as the Huskies rallied to claim four singles victories and the dual.

The conference dual started with doubles in Seattle. Ranked Huskies #78 Bouchelaghem/Zharyn notched a doubles win on Court One, defeating Shepp and Henry Bilicic 6-2. The Big Red fought back for the doubles point though, as Lars Johann and Calvin Mueller took down Suko/Purohit 6-2 on Court Two. Nikolay Sysoev and Colson Wells took Court Three, 6-3, over Pearson/Belday.

Getting NU started on the singles side, Shepp notched a ranked upset win at No. 2 singles, with a straight-set, 6-4, 6-4, victory over #104 Dzianis Zharyn. On Court Three, UW’s Purohit bested Sysoev 6-2, 6-4 to get on the board. Johann fell at No. 4 singles to Suko, 6-4, 7-5, tying the dual.

Joan Torres Espinosa defeated Belday on Court Six, 6-4, 6-4 next. The Huskies answered quickly, putting the team score at 3-3 after #35 Bouchelaghem (UW) defeated #69 Mueller 6(5)-7, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. In a three-set thriller for the win, Husky Ivan Sodan took Court Five against Roni Hietaranta, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

With the 4-3 loss, the Huskers fell to 12-7 (5-4 Big Ten) on the season. NU remains in pursuit of its sixth conference win, which would accomplish the most in a year for the program since 1940. The Washington victory is their second upset in the past two weekends, and matched the last result between UW and NU, in 2011.

UP NEXT
NU takes on #62 Oregon on Sunday, April 6. The match is set to start at noon CT, and will have live stats and stream available.

#43 Washington 4, #38 Nebraska 3
Doubles:
1. #78 Cesar Bouchelaghem/Dzianis Zharyn (UW) def. Anton Shepp/Henry Bilicic (NEB) 6-2
2. Lars Johann/Calvin Mueller (NEB) def. Nedim Suko/Soham Purohit (UW) 6-2
3. Nikolay Sysoev/Colson Wells (NEB) def. Brett Pearson/Rohan Belday (UW) 6-3

Singles:
1. #35 Cesar Bouchelaghem (UW) def. #69 Calvin Mueller (NEB) 6(5)-7, 6-3, 6-2
2. Anton Shepp (NEB) def. #104 Dzianis Zharyn (UW) 6-4, 6-4
3. Soham Purohit (UW) def. Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) 6-2, 6-4
4. Nedim Suko (UW) def. Lars Johann (NEB) 6-4, 7-5
5. Ivan Sodan (UW) def. Roni Hietaranta (NEB) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
6. Joan Torres Espinosa (NEB) def. Rohan Belday (UW) 6-4, 6-4