Story by NU Athletic Communication
After a split Big Ten road weekend, the Nebraska women’s tennis team returns to Lincoln for its final home matches of the 2024-25 season. The #72 Huskers (12-8, 2-7 Big Ten) will host two top-25 foes in #16 USC (11-5, 5-3 Big Ten) and #22 UCLA (10-7, 5-3 Big Ten) this weekend.NU takes on the Trojans on Friday, April 11, at 5 p.m. CT. The Big Red will celebrate its seniors, Lucy Loy and Ana Zamburek, ahead of its final home dual on Sunday, April 13, slated for noon CT against the Bruins.
Last weekend, Maria Taranova claimed her 21st singles win of the season, the sophomore’s second time accomplishing 20+ victories in a year. Taranova leads the team with 14 spring singles wins, followed by Zamburek’s 12-3 mark. On the doubles side, Emma Rizzetto and Tiziana Rossini have tallied five victories together.
#16 USC (11-5, 5-3 Big Ten)History: 0-0; NU and USC have never met on the court. The Trojans are coming to Lincoln off a 4-1 upset over #19 Wisconsin. USC has three ranked singles players, #62 Grace Piper, #66 Emma Charney and #103 Imogen Haddad. The team is on a win-streak of two, and boasts a top-10 doubles pair in #7 Lily Fairclough/Grace Piper who are 18-5 this season.
#22 UCLA (10-7, 5-3 Big Ten)History: 0-0; NU and USC have never met on the court. The Bruins bring a highly-ranked roster to Lincoln, featuring #19 Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, #33 Kate Fakih, #76 Elisa Wagle and #97 Kimmi Hance in singles. On the doubles courts, UCLA boasts two top-20 pairs with #2 Olivia Center/Kate Fakih and #19 Kimmi Hance/Elise Wagle. The Bruins are on a three-win streak, and will play #31 on Friday. Their most recent loss was to #12 Ohio State.
The Huskers are coming off the fall individual season in which the team tallied 34 singles wins. Taranova led the Big Red in fall singles wins with seven, and had a stellar freshman season in which she earned a 23-8 record, the most wins by a freshman since 2010.In the 2023-24 season, led by head coach Dalmagro, his first year at NU, the Huskers went 14-11. The team accomplished two Big Ten Tournament wins for the first time in program history and senior Raphaelle Lacasse was named an All-Big Ten First Team honoree.
The conference matches will have a live stream available and linked on huskers.com. For match and spring season updates and content, follow @HuskerWTennis on Instagram and X, or Nebraska Women’s Tennis on Facebook.