Lincoln, Neb. - The No. 68 Nebraska women's tennis team (14-8, 3-6 Big Ten) bested Rutgers (9-10, 0-8 Big Ten) 4-0 at the final home match of the season on Sunday morning at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center.  
 
The Huskers started off strong in doubles play. Samantha Alicea and Raphaëlle Lacasse got their 13th win as a duo on Court 1 and swept Jackeline Lopez and Arina Valitova, 6-0. In the No. 3 spot, Lucy Loy and Anfisa Danilchenko clinched the doubles point by beating Rutger's Minchae Kim and Mai Nguyen, 6-1. The match on Court 2 went unfinished.
 
The strong performance continued in singles play. Isabel Adrover Gallego dominated on Court 1, defeating Rutgers' Jackeline Lopez, 6-1, 6-1. In the No. 4 position, Lacasse bested Valitova, 6-3, 6-1, putting the Huskers within one point of victory. Jillian Roa clinched the win for NU when she beat Minchae Kim, 6-2, 6-2, on Court 6. The singles matches went unfinished on Courts 2, 3 and 4.
 
Up next, the Huskers travel to match up against Illinois on April 22 at 11 a.m. CT at the Atkins Tennis Center.
 
Tennis Match Results
Rutgers vs Nebraska
Apr 16, 2023 at Lincoln, Neb.
(Dillon Tennis Center)
 
#68 Nebraska 4, Rutgers 0
 
Singles competition
1. Isabel A. Gallego (NEB) def. Jackeline Lopez (RU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Samantha Alicea (NEB) vs. Tara Chilton (RU) 6-1, 2-6, unfinished
3. Ana C. Zamburek (NEB) vs. Amira Badawi (RU) 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
4. Raphaëlle Lacasse (NEB) def. Arina Valitova (RU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Anfisa Danilchenko (NEB) vs. Mai Nguyen (RU) 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
6. Jillian Roa (NEB) def. Minchae Kim (RU) 6-2, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
1. Samantha Alicea/Raphaëlle Lacasse (NEB) def. Jackeline Lopez/Arina Valitova (RU) 6-0
2. Isabel A. Gallego/Ana C. Zamburek (NEB) vs. Tara Chilton/Amira Badawi (RU) 2-5, unfinished
3. Lucy Loy/Anfisa Danilchenko (NEB) def. Minchae Kim/Mai Nguyen (RU) 6-1

Match Notes:
Rutgers 9-10 
Nebraska 14-8; National ranking #68
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,4,6)

Nebraska Falls to No. 26 Illinois, 4-2

Urbana, Ill. – The No. 45 Nebraska men's tennis team (12-9, 4-4 Big Ten) fell to No. 26 Illinois (17-9, 5-2 Big Ten) 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Atkins Tennis Center.
 
Illinois started strong in doubles to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. On Court 1, the No. 50 ranked pairing of Karlis Ozolins and Hunter Heck defeated William Gleason and Leo Linquet 6-2. The Fighting Illini picked up the doubles point on Court 3 as Gabrielius Guzauskas and William Mroz defeated Roni Hietaranta and Shunya Maruyama 6-1.
 
The match on Court 3 went unfinished, with Calvin Mueller and Lars Johann tied at 3-3 with No. 52 Mathis Debru and Oliver Okonkwo.
 
Illinois grabbed the first singles match, as No. 46 Ozolins defeated Hietaranta 6-1, 6-1 on Court 1. The Huskers cut the lead in half as Johann defeated Mroz 6-4, 6-3 on Court 4. The Fighting Illini answered right back as No. 88 Alex Petrov defeated Maruyama 6-4, 6-3 on Court 3. Linquet kept the Huskers within striking distance as he defeated Heck 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 on Court 2 to make it 3-2.

The Huskers came up just short on Court 5, as Okonkwo defeated Gleason 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to clinch the win for Illinois.

The remaining match on Court 6 went unfinished, with Nic Wiedenhorn trailing Nic Meister 3-6, 7-6 (4), 1-4.
 
The Huskers close out its regular season schedule as they travel to Madison, Wisc., to face No. 51 Wisconsin next Saturday at 12 p.m. CT.

Tennis Match Results
Nebraska vs Illinois
4/16/2023 at Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (Atkins Tennic Center)

Illinois 4, Nebraska 2

Singles competition
1. #46 Karlis Ozolins (ILL) def. Roni Hietaranta (NEB) 6-1, 6-1
2. Leo Linquet (NEB) def. Hunter Heck (ILL) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
3. #88 Alex Petrov (ILL) def. Shunya Maruyama (NEB) 6-4, 6-3
4. Lars Johann (NEB) def. William Mroz (ILL) 6-4, 6-3
5. Oliver Okonkwo (ILL) def. William Gleason (NEB) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
6. Nic Meister (ILL) vs. Nic Wiedenhorn (NEB) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 4-1, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #50 Hunter Heck/Karlis Ozolins (ILL) def. William Gleason/Linquet (NEB) 6-2
2. #52 Oliver Okonkwo/Mathis Debru (ILL) vs. Calvin Mueller/Lars Johann (NEB) 3-3, unfinished
3. Gabrielius Guzauskas/William Mroz (ILL) def. Roni Hietaranta/Shunya Maruyama (NEB) 6-1

Match Notes:
Nebraska 12-9
Illinois 17-9
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,4,3,2,5)

Strand Earns Top 15 Finish at Lady Buckeye

Kelli Ann Strand fired an even-par 216 over three rounds to lead the Nebraska women's golf team with a tie for 12th individually at the Lady Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday.

Strand, a true freshman from Challis, Idaho, opened the tournament on Saturday with a 70 (-2) on the 6,319-yard layout of the Scarlet Course, before adding an even-par 72 in Saturday's second round. She closed the tournament with a 74 (+2) in challenging scoring conditions in Sunday's final round, missing a top-10 finish by just one stroke. Strand's performance marked her eighth top-20 individual finish of the season.

Strand's finish in the 87-player field produced a bright spot for a Husker squad that struggled on the Scarlet Course. Nebraska settled for 12th in a 14-team field that was loaded with 13 Big Ten teams in preparation for the upcoming Big Ten Championship (April 21-23) in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Sophomore Andrea Velez notched Nebraska's No. 2 individual finish in a tie for 51st at 228 (+12). Velez was playing out of the No. 6 spot in a six-count-four scoring lineup, which also will be in play at the conference tournament.

Sophomore Miu Takahashi tied for 54th at 229 (+13), while graduate student Megan Whittaker tied for 61st at 232 (+16), snapping a streak of 18 consecutive top-35 individual finishes . Lindsey Thiele tied for 75th at 236 (+20), while Michaela Vavrova took 77th at 237 (+21).

The hosts from Ohio State ran away with the team title on their home course. The No. 25 Buckeyes finished at 854 (-10) to defeat runner-up and No. 34 Michigan State by nine strokes. The Spartans closed at 863 (-1). Penn State took third at 864 (E), while No. 33 Maryland finished fourth at 867 (+3) and No. 46 Purdue rounded out the top five at 871 (+5).

Michigan's Monet Chun and Maryland's Patricie Mackova shared medalist honors with three-round totals of 208 (-8). Ohio State's Caley McGinty took third at 211 (-5), while Penn State's Mathilde Delavallade and Sarah Willis tied for fourth at 212 (-4).

The Huskers will be back in action this week at the Big Ten Championship at the Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh, Pa., April 21-23.

Lady Buckeye Invitational
April 15-16, 2023
Scarlet Course (Par 72, 6,319 Yards)
Columbus, Ohio

Final Team Results
1. #25 Ohio State - 277-281-296=854 (-10)
2. #34 Michigan State - 279-286-298=863 (-1)
3. Penn State - 278-289-297=864 (E)
4. #33 Maryland - 287-285-295=867 (+3)
5. #46 Purdue - 285-293-293=871 (+7)
6. #44 Michigan - 291-286-295=872 (+8)
7. Minnesota - 283-294-302=879 (+15)
8. #40 Kent State - 288-298-298=884 (+20)
9. Illinois - 291-296-304=891 (+27)
10. Wisconsin - 293-293-308=894 (+27)
11. Iowa - 300-292-304=896 (+32)
12. Nebraska - 293-300-307=900 (+36)
13. Indiana - 294-305-304=903 (+39)
14. Rutgers - 304-308-DNF=DNF

Final Individual Results
T1. Monet Chun, Michigan - 71-67-70=208 (-8)
T1. Patricie Mackova, Maryland - 66-69-73=208 (-8)
3. Caley McGinty, Ohio State - 67-68-76=211 (-5)
T4. Mathilde Delavallade, Penn State - 68-71-73=212 (-4)
4. Sarah Willis, Penn State - 67-68-77=212 (-4)
T6. Crystal Wang, Illinois - 71-70-73=214 (-2)
T6. Brooke Biermann, Michigan State - 67-74-73=214 (-2)
T6. Kary Hollenbaugh, Ohio State - 70-70-74=214 (-2)
T9. Isabella McCauley, Minnesota - 70-72-73=215 (-1)
T9. Ashley Kozlowski, Purdue - 69-72-74=215 (-1)
T9. Mariana Mesones, Minnesota - 70-70-75=215 (-1)

Nebraska Individuals
T12. Kelli Ann Strand - 70-72-74=216 (E)
T51. Andrea Velez - 75-74-79=228 (+12)
T54. Miu Takahashi - 73-81-75=229 (+13)
T61. Megan Whittaker - 75-78-79=232 (+16)
T75. Lindsey Thiele - 80-77-79=236 (+20)
77. Michaela Vavrova - 79-77-81=237 (+21)

NU Shuts Out Creighton on Sunday

Omaha, Neb. – Behind three first-half goals, the Nebraska soccer team defeated Creighton 4-0 Sunday afternoon in the Huskers' seventh of eight spring games. 
 
The Huskers got on the board early behind goals from Abbey Schwarz, Eleanor Dale and Sarah Weber. With the 3-0 lead after the first half, Florence Belzile added a finish of her own in the second half in route to the 4-0 shutout.
 
Next week, the Huskers travel to Colorado for their third away spring match and last competition of the season. NU will face Colorado on Saturday, April 22 and 12 p.m. CT. 

Huskers Finish Third at NCAA Bowling

Las Vegas – Nebraska bowling's quest for a seventh NCAA title ended Saturday afternoon, as the Huskers lost 2-0 to Vanderbilt in the elimination match at the NCAA Championship
 
The Commadores edged the Huskers in the traditional match, 1115-1009, before completing the mega match sweep with a 1096-1020 victory in the five-game baker match.
 
"It was a pretty good season and I am proud of the team," Paul Klempa said.  "We're all a little demoralized when you lose three matches in a row by a combined 28 pins (dating back to last night). That to me just says it wasn't meant to be. We bowled really well and shot some scores that would usually win, but it wasn't enough. We tip our caps to both Arkansas State and Vanderbilt. I think that the two hottest, best teams at the moment are on the show. Wish them both the best of luck.
 
Proud of the program, the team and Amara (Smith Speights) and Gwen (Gwen Maeha) who just wrapped up their careers. Nebraska bowling has a bright future," Klempa said."

With the win, Vanderbilt will face Arkansas State in the title match tonight at 8 p.m. (central) on ESPNU. Nebraska finishes its season with a third-place finish, the 11^th time that the Huskers have finished third or better since the NCAA bowling championship.
 
The Huskers and Commodores kept close tabs on each other for the majority of the traditional match before Vanderbilt closed with a flourish in taking a 1115-1109 victory. Nebraska held steady through the first eight frames, adding marks in the 10th before Vanderbilt was able to fill doubles in four out of five possible marks in the 10th. NU tried to rally in the final frame, but struggled with splits and could not complete the comeback. Jillian Martin led the team with a score of 244, including six straight strikes to end the match. Anna Callan followed close behind with 235, while Kayla Verstraete (227), Crystal Elliott (211) and Kendyl Hofmeister (192) rounded out the Husker lineup. 

The Huskers had a slow start in the first baker match training behind 195-177. Utilizing their traditional lineup, the Huskers were able to put marks in frames one, a double in four and five as well as a double in the ninth and tenth as they trailed by 12 pins.

In game two, the Big Red was able to stay clean in all but the second and eighth frames and totaled five strikes in a 195-180 loss.  A change in lineup kept the Huskers fresh, as Gwen Maeha sprung into action in game three starting with an unfortunate split. The Huskers marked in nine of 10 frames but had just four strikes in a 238-189 setback. 

Nebraska was ready to strike back in game four but was met by a deadly seven ten split in frame two to slow any momentum. Despite the split being the only open frame, NU recorded just four strikes in a 204-192 loss that put Vanderbilt ahead by 99 pins heading into the final baker game. 

Maeha gave NU its first strike in frame two, followed by a turkey in frames four through six, and ending the game with a five bagger. NU's 235 score wasn't enough to dig out the hole for the Huskers. Nebraska closed the match with five consecutive strikes, including one by senior Amara Smith Speights in the ninth before Jillian Martin closed the 10th with three straight strikes, as NU posted a 235-212 victory in game five.