Huskers Face Tough Test at Iowa On Saturday

Lincoln - The Nebraska women's tennis team will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes this Saturday, Febraury 6, at 10 a..m.

The Huskers, 1-0 on the season, are ranked No. 66 nationally in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. The Huskers are led by junior Sandra Noetzel, who is ranked 57th nationally in singles. That is the highest singles ranking in Nebraska women's tennis history. Noetzel has been nationally ranked each of her three seasons with the Huskers.

Noetzel will have a tough matchup this weekend against Iowa's No. 1 singles player, Toni Neykova. Neykova, who joined Iowa at the start of the spring semester, is internationally ranked and has won her first two matches of the year (6-2, 6-4 and 6-2, 6-2).

"Sandra never has an easy match," Coach Scott Jacobson said. "She has played against the best players in the country, so she knows how to play at that high level."

The Hawkeyes enter this weekend's match with a national ranking of No. 61 and a 2-0 record on the year, sweeping it's first two matches of the year, 9-0, over Illinois State and Depaul.

In last year's season opener with the Hawkeyes, Iowa defeated the Huskers (6-3) in Lincoln.

"Iowa has pretty much the same team back from last year, with the exception of Neykova," Jacobson said. "This will be a good test to see how much we have improved from last year."

NU will be without the services of freshman Riva Wig, who is still bothered by a knee injury. Jacobson is unsure when Wig will be able to return to action.

Last Week: Huskers Open Season with Shutout
The Huskers opened its season last Saturday with a 9-0 shutout of Southwest Missouri State in Springfield, Mo. The Huskers dropped just two sets in sweeping the Bears.

In singles, No. 1 junior Sandra Noetzel, ranked 57th nationally, was taken to three sets by Sandy Salado, but prevailed, winning the match 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. At No. 2 singles, freshman Katarina Balan made an impressive debut beating Amy Newman, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. Sophomore Ndali Ijomah breezed through her first match of the year, defeating Diana Stojcevski 6-1, 6-3, at No. 3 singles. The dominance continued at No. 4 singles with junior Gina Pelazini shutting out Asa Duneborn 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Amy Frisch also made an impressive debut Saturday, winning her match over Daniela Bohuslav 6-1, 7-5, at fifth singles. At No. 6, sophmore Danica Hardy closed out singles, beating Sara Anciaux 6-2, 6-0.

In doubles, the No. 1 team of Noetzel and Ijomah defeated Salado and Newman 8-4. At No. 2, Balan and Hardy teamed up to defeat Duneborn and Anciaux, 8-4, and at No. 3 doubles, Pelazini and Frisch beat Stojcevski and Bohuslav 8-6.

With the win Nebraska improved to 1-0, while Southwest Missouri State fell to 1-2 on the year with the loss.