University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Nebraska
Comeback Falls Short for Gophers
4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Urbana, Ill. - No. 8 seeded University of Minnesota fell in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to No. 9 seeded Nebraska, 4-3, after falling in the final set Thursday at the Atkins Tennis Complex in Urbana, Ill.
The Golden Gophers conclude their season 13-12 overall and 5-6 in Big Ten play.
Doubles
The match opened with the tandem of Tina Kreinis and Annemarie Emme falling at the No. 2 position, 6-3, to Claire Reifeis and Hayley Haakenstad. Next, Nebraska's Mary Hanna and Paula Del Cueto Castillo took down the duo of Caitlyn Merzbacher and Mehvish Safdar, 6-2, at spot No. 1, securing the doubles point for the Cornhuskers.
At the No 3. spot, the match went unfinished, though Caroline Ryba and Cammy Frei led M'Balia Bangoura and Vasanti Shinde, 5-2.
Singles
Singles opened with Camila Vargas Gomez falling at the No. 5 spot to Bangoura, 6-1, 6-0, giving Nebraska a two-point lead.
Emme fell at the No. 4 position to Mary Hanna, 6-2, 6-4 to make it 3-0 in favor of the Cornhuskers.
At the No. 6 spot, Merzbacher swiped the Gophers' first point of the match, downing Haakenstad 6-3. 6-3. Merzbacher added to her three-game win streak, and now has four wins from the No. 6 spot.
Kreinis was able to follow Merzbacher's lead and was victorious over Reifeis. 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 2 position. She led the team with 16 dual play singles wins, including a win over Reifeis the last time the two teams met.
Ryba caught the Maroon and Gold up, tying the match 3-3, with her win over Vasanti Shinde in the No. 1 spot, 6-2, 6-4. This is Ryba's second win over Shinde this season, adding to her now 16 wins from the first spot, tying with Kreinis. She also finishes the season riding a six-match winning streak.
The match came down to Maja Vujic and Del Cueto Castillo in the No. 3 spot. Vujic took the first set 6-1 but then fell in the last two sets 6-4, 6-1.
Nebraska 4, Minnesota 3
Singles Competition
1. Caroline Ryba (MINN) def. Vasanti Shinde (NEB) 6-2, 6-4
2. Tina Kreinis (MINN) def. Claire Reifeis (NEB) 6-2, 6-3
3. P.Del Cueto Castillo (NEB) def. Maja Vujic (MINN) 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
4. Mary Hanna (NEB) def. Annemarie Emme (MINN) 6-2, 6-4
5. M'Balia Bangoura (NEB) def. Camila Vargas Gomez (MINN) 6-1, 6-0
6. Caitlyn Merzbacher (MINN) def. Hayley Haakenstad (NEB) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles Competition
1. Mary Hanna/P.Del Cueto Castillo (NEB) def. Caitlyn Merzbacher/Mehvish Safdar (MINN) 6-2 2. Claire Reifeis/Hayley Haakenstad (NEB) def. Tina Kreinis/Annemarie Emme (MINN) 6-3
3. Caroline Ryba/Cammy Frei (MINN) vs. M'Balia Bangoura/Vasanti Shinde (NEB) 5-2, ret.
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,4,6,2,1,)
Players Mentioned
