#38 Lopers Beat the Muleriders to Reach Tourney Semis

University of Nebraska - Kearney Athletics

Erika Pritchard, UNK Communications

Box Score

Southern Arkansas SAU (11-11)

Nebraska Kearney UNK-M (16-6)

Southern Arkansas SAU

(11-11)

Final

Apr. 29, 2026

Nebraska Kearney UNK-M

(16-6)

Next Match:

vs. #35 Harding (AR)

4/30/2026 | 2 p.m.

Next Match

Full Schedule

Apr. 30 (Thu) / 2 p.m.

vs. #35 Harding (AR)

History

Recap
Roster

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | 4/29/2026 5:18:00 PM

Next Match:

vs. #35 Harding (AR)

4/30/2026 | 2 p.m.

Next Match

Full Schedule

Apr. 30 (Thu) / 2 p.m.

vs. #35 Harding (AR)

History

Recap
Roster

Results

#1 Doubles
FINAL	1
Lucas Nitzschke / Frode Neumann (-/8) [SAU]	4
Brisdon, Andy / Melnik, Ivan (7/4) [UNK-M]	6

#2 Doubles
FINAL	1
Jonas Sommer / Uwe Diehl (13/-) [SAU]	6
van den Dungen, Tom / Fuentes, Ilan [UNK-M]	0

#3 Doubles
FINAL	1
Balsa Djokovic / Taiki Minamino [SAU]	2
Strzelecki, Jakub / Carpano, Cesare [UNK-M]	6

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1

#1 Singles
FINAL	1	2	3
Frode Neumann (-/13) [SAU]	2	6	6 ⁵
Melnik, Ivan (-/8) [UNK-M]	6	2	7 ⁷

#2 Singles
FINAL	1	2	3
Lucas Nitzschke (-/14) [SAU]	6	2	2
Brisdon, Andy (-/5) [UNK-M]	3	6	6

#3 Singles
UNFINISHED	1	2	3	4
Uwe Diehl [SAU]	7	3	2	0
Jaulin, Alex [UNK-M]	5	6	3	UF

#4 Singles
UNFINISHED	1	2	3	4
Balsa Djokovic [SAU]	6	4	0	0
Fuentes, Ilan [UNK-M]	4	6	3	UF

#5 Singles
FINAL	1	2
Jonas Sommer [SAU]	7	6
Carpano, Cesare [UNK-M]	5	2

#6 Singles
FINAL	1	2
Taiki Minamino [SAU]	1	4
Strzelecki, Jakub [UNK-M]	6	6

Order of Finish: 6, 5, 2, 1

Kearney, Neb. – The now 38th-ranked Nebraska Kearney men's tennis team took the doubles point and won three singles matches to defeat Southern Arkansas, 4-1, in the MIAA/GAC Tournament Wednesday evening in Springfield, Mo.

The Lopers (16-6) advance to Thursday's semifinals against 35th-ranked Harding, Ark. (15-6). The Bison, the South Division's top seed, swept Augustana Wednesday morning. In the most recent NCAA regional rankings, Kearney is second in the Central and Harding third. The top five squads advance to NCAA Regionals May 11-12 at two sites to be determined.

UNK, seeded third in the North Division, took on an SAU Muleriders squad (11-11) they've seen only once (April 2024) before. The Lopers won at one and three doubles to go ahead 1-0, swept six singles and then won in three sets at one and two singles to clinch. The Blue & Gold was also ahead in the third set in the third and fourth sets when the dual was clinched.

The now seventh-ranked pair of Andy Brisdon (U.K.) and Ivan Melnik (Germany) scored the final three points at one doubles to win, 6-4. Junior Jakub Strzelecki (Poland) and freshman Cesare Carpano (Italy) had an easier time at three, 6-2, with SAU's 13th-ranked pair of Sommer/Diehl scoring all six points at two.

Strzelecki earned his 12th dual win with a quick decision at six (-1, -4) but Sommer bested Carpano at five (-5, -2). All four other single matches went to three sets with Brisdon rallying past Lucas Nitzschke at two (3-6, -2, -2) and Melnik outlasting Frode Neumann at one for the clinch (-2, 2-6, 7-6; 7-5).

The UNK/HU winner advances to Friday's final (9 a.m.) against the winner of No. 11 Washburn and No. 49 Northwest Missouri. Both the 'Bods and 'Cats won by 4-3 scores today.

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