University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Nebraska
Gophers Downed by Nebraska
3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
The No. 62 University of Minnesota Gophers fell 4-3 to Nebraska this afternoon taking three singles victories.
"We played well enough to secure the doubles point with very close matches. We were able to battle out three singles wins but on the road we just needed to grab some key points to swing it our way," head coach Chuck Merzbacher said. "The most important thing now, is for this team to focus on Iowa. We know that every time we line up, it takes everything we have to get the job done."
Caroline Ryba and Julia Courter kept their dominant season going picking up a 6-1 victory at the No. 2 doubles spot. The duo is now 10-2 together on the season. Nebraska evened things up with a 6-3 win at the No. 1 doubles spot.
Caitlyn Merzbacher and Mehvish Safdar were down early but knotted up the No. 3 spot 5-5 and again 6-6 to leave the doubles point up to a tiebreak. Nebraska took the tiebreak and the doubles point with a win. Merzbacher and Safdar are now 8-5 together.
Courter knotted up the match at 1-1 after her opponent retired at the No. 3 spot. Courter is 13-10 on the season.
The Cornhuskers took straight set wins at No. 1, 5 and 4 to seal the victory.
Despite already having dropped the overall match the Gophers stayed strong pulling out two victories in the final two matches of the afternoon. Paula Rincon-Otero won (6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (3)) and now has a team best 15 wins this season.
Camila Vargas Gomez won 6-1 in her first set at No. 6 but fell 6-7 in the second. She stayed tough to win a tiebreak set 10-7 and improves to 13-10 overall.
The Gophers drop to 10-7 on the year and are 2-2 in conference play. They get back at it against Iowa on the road Sunday with the match set to start at 11 a.m.
Nebraska 4, #62 Minnesota 3
Singles competition
1. Maggy Lehmicke (NU) def. Caroline Ryba (MINN) 6-1, 6-3
2. Paula Rincon-Otero (MINN) def. Mary Hanna (NU) 6-2, 5-7, 10-3
3. Julia Courter (MINN) def. Lisa Andersson (NU) 6-4, retired
4. Vasanti Shinde (NU) def. Jessika Mozia (MINN) 6-3, 6-2
5. Katerina Matysova (NU) def. Annemarie Emme (MINN) 6-4, 6-1
6. Camila Vargas Gomez (MINN) def. Mackenna Maddox-Herr (NU) 6-1, 6-7, 10-7
Doubles competition
1. Maggy Lehmicke/Lisa Andersson (NU) def. Paula Rincon-Otero/AnneMarie Emme (MINN) 6-3
2. Caroline Ryba/Julia Courter (MINN) def. Mary Hanna/Vasanti Shinde (NU) 6-1
3. Katerina Matysova/Mackenna Maddox-Herr (NU) def. Mehvish Safdar/Caitlyn Merzbacher (MINN) 7-6
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,1,5,4,2,6)
Players Mentioned
