Tennis season is in the full swing as both the men’s and women’s teams have had six matches so far.
The men’s team sits at 3-3 after a close win over Nebraska-Omaha last Friday. The women’s team has a record of 2-4 after a 7-0 loss against Nebraska last Sunday.
Just across town at the Hanscom Tennis Center on UNO’s campus, the Bluejays were looking to bounce back after a 2-3 start to the season, while the Mavericks also were looking to gain an edge as they shared the same record of 2-3.
The Jays came out with a strong lead as junior Alex Koca and freshman Mac Mease picked up a win on the No. 3 doubles court 6-4.
On courts No. 1 and 2, both doubles matches went to a tiebreaker set.
In a wild turn of events, freshman Armando Gandini and senior Aaron Chalstrom came back from a 5-1 deficit on court No. 2 to win the match with a 7-4 tiebreaker set score and a 7-6 score overall.
“For our No. 2 doubles to come back from being down 5-1 was pretty spectacular — that doesn’t happen very often,” Creighton coach Tom Lilly said. “It was a big doubles point, because that momentum in a match like this is huge.”
The Mavericks would be able to get points back by winning the No. 1 doubles match in a tiebreaker set 7-4. UNO would get a huge lift from No. 53 nationally-ranked Razvan Grigorescu, who would win in straight-sets on the No. 1 singles court. However, senior Harrison Lang won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 singles to keep the Bluejay lead to one point.
Clinching the dual, Creighton would win the No. 3 singles court with Koca in three sets and the No. 5 singles court with Chalstrom in straight sets.
“Today was a tremendous win for our guys because the effort they put forth to win a lot of big points,” Lilly said. “UNO is a great team — they’re having a heck of a year and they’ve really improved.”
The men’s team will return to the courts on the road in Greeley, Colo., where they will face Southern Utah on Friday and Northern Colorado on Saturday.
The women’s tennis team suffered a 7-0 loss to UNL last Sunday afternoon. This loss dropped Creighton to 2-4, and was another improvement for UNL who is now 7-0.
The Huskers won in straight sets on all six singles courts to sweep the Bluejays.
Sophomore Michaela Henne came close to taking the first set in her match on the No. 4 singles court before falling 6-4 in the first frame. Sophomore Ashley Ishimura battled in the first frame on the No. 1 singles court to get to a score of 3-3 before falling in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
“We ran into a very strong Husker team,” Lilly said. “Hopefully we obtained some more experience and will continue to improve.”
The women’s team returns to action in two weeks to face Missouri State on Feb. 24 and Central Arkansas on Feb. 25 in Springfield, Mo.