No. 71 Nebraska women’s tennis (10-6) defeated No. 72 Minnesota (8-9) 4-1 in a Sunday match at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center on March 23. The Golden Gophers came to Lincoln on a two-match losing streak.
The Huskers went into this match searching for their first win in Big Ten play. They started 0-5 in the conference with four out of those five matchups being against ranked opponents. Most notably the Huskers had No. 4 Michigan in Lincoln on March 7 as their first Big Ten match and had No. 18 Wisconsin just yesterday where they fell 3-4.
“I’m super proud of them,” head coach German Dalmagro said. “It kind of feels like a little bit of a monkey off your back type of weight, but you know, no win in the Big Ten, see we play rank teams and we’ve been so close in just about every match. So this feels like a little validation, you know, the work that we’ve put in.”
Doubles play started with Ana Zamburek/Lucy Loy (NEB) dropping their match against Anali Kocevar/Mia Liepert (MIN) 6-3 on Court One. After that match the battle for the doubles point was between two close matches on Court Two and Three. Emma Rizzetto/Reya Lee Coe (NEB) were the ones to tie up doubles play winning their match against Jessele Ante/Sofia Pinto (MIN) 7-6 on Court Two. On Court Three, Maria Taranova/Natalia Trigosso (NEB) battled in their match against Aiva Schmitz/Arina Valitova (MIN) winning it 7-5 to give Nebraska the edge on doubles play and award the point to the Huskers. Nebraska led 1-0 going into singles play.
Singles play began with Coe (NEB) dominating her match against Valitova (MIN) in straight sets (6-2, 6-1) on Court Four.
“I think what helps stay present, especially in the moment, is that you are playing for something bigger than yourself,” sophomore Reya Lee Coe said. “I’m not just playing for me, but I’m playing for my teammates and to get us a point on the board.”
On Court Three, Taranova (NEB) won her match against Kocevar (MIN) in two sets (7-6, 6-3). On Court Two, Rizzetto (NEB) fell to Liepart (MIN) in two sets (6-7, 3-6). Zamburek secured the overall match for the Huskers with a win on Court One over Schmitz (6-2, 4-6, 6-3). The rest of the singles matches were declared unfinished.
Nebraska fought to get the doubles point and three singles points and took the match 4-1 against Minnesota to get its first conference win.
With this match win, Dalmagro earned his 25th dual win in his time at Nebraska. In the 2023-24 season and Dalmagro’s first season with Nebraska, the Huskers went 14-11 and had two wins in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in program history.
“I think it’s hopefully many more to come,” Dalmagro said. “I try to learn every day something new from your players and I think each year is different. I try to bring a positive attitude team and make sure we’re working hard, that effort and attitude are there, and that we’re a competitive team, that we’re always competing.
“Nebraska’s an amazing place and I think we can do great things, we just have to keep working hard and seeking those opportunities and executing there.”
Nebraska will have a road match against Iowa on Sunday, March 29 at 12 p.m. before going out East for a two-match road trip.