Michigan
Nebraska
Nebraska Stuns Michigan in First Round of Big Ten Tournament
4/22/2026 9:19:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Ojai, Calif. (Libbey Park)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (First Round)
Score: Nebraska 4, Michigan 2
Records: U-M (13-10), Nebraska (12-13)
Next U-M Event: Monday, April 27 -- NCAA Selection Show (NCAA.com), 4 p.m.
OJAI, Calif. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team suffered a 4-2 loss to Nebraska on Wednesday (April 22) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at Libbey Park, halting the Wolverines' six-match win streak.
Michigan (13-10) won the doubles point with seniors Mert Oral and Nicholas Steiglehner posting the first win at No. 3. Tied at 2-2 against No. 78-ranked Joan Torres Espinosa and Leo Lopez Linquet, the Wolverines went on a 4-0 run to take the match 6-2. Bjorn Swenson and Alex Cairo followed with a 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles.
No. 8-ranked Max Dahlin won his 17th consecutive match at No. 1 singles with matching 6-2 sets against No. 117-ranked Nikolay Sysoev to push Michigan ahead 2-0.
Swenson grabbed a 7-5 first-set win at No. 2 singles, but the Wolverines dropped first sets at Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6, giving them an uphill battle.
The Huskers put up back-to-back wins at the bottom of the lineup. With the score tied at 2-2, the match came down to all three seniors still on court.
At No. 4 singles, Steiglehner had a 5-2 advantage in the first set before Jeri Lassila battled to win five straight games and take the set 7-5. The two were square at 4-4 in the second set before Lassila held serve and then broke Steiglehner for the win, 6-4.
Oral fell behind 4-1 in his first set before he went on his own 4-1 run to tie the set and force a breaker with Colson Wells. Oral took a 6-5 edge in the breaker before Wells won back-to-back points to then lead 7-6. Oral briefly held him off before Wells finished the breaker 9-7. In the second set, Oral got behind 3-0 and could not make up the difference, this time in a 6-3 decision.
Swenson's match was stopped in the third set when his opponent called for an athletic trainer with Swenson leading 4-1.
Michigan will learn its postseason fate on the NCAA Selection Show, Monday (April 27) at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 – No. 8 Max Dahlin (U-M) d. No. 117 Nikolay Sysoev (Nebraska), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 – No. 51 Bjorn Swenson (U-M) vs. Leo Lopez Linquet (Nebraska), 7-5, 4-6, 4-1 abandoned
No. 3 – Colson Wells (Nebraska) d. Mert Oral (U-M), 7-6 (7), 6-3
No. 4 – Jeri Lassila (Nebraska) d. Nicholas Steiglehner (U-M), 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 – Niels Van Der Sijs (Nebraska) d. Alex Cairo (U-M), 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 – Joan Torres Espinosa (Nebraska) d. Arnav Bhandari (U-M), 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 – No. 88 Max Dahlin/Pierce Shaya (U-M) vs. Henry Bilcic/Nikolay Sysoev (Nebraska), 4-4 abandoned
No. 2 – Bjorn Swenson/Alex Cairo (U-M) d. Matt Shearer/Henry Lamchinniah (Nebraska), 6-3
No. 3 – Mert Oral/Nicholas Steiglehner (U-M) d. No. 78 Joan Torres Espinosa/Leo Lopez Linquet (Nebraska), 6-2
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2, Singles 1-5-6-4-3
Players Mentioned
