Huskers Conclude Fall Season at ITA Regionals

The Nebraska women’s tennis team will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, for the ITA Central Region Women’s Tennis Championships Oct. 22-26. The tournament will be the Huskers’ final competition of the fall season.

The ITA Central Regional will feature over 120 participants in singles play and 56 doubles entries from 26 teams across the region. Tournament play opens with singles qualifying rounds Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Main draw singles and doubles competition will be Thursday and Friday and also start at 8 a.m. each day. Quarterfinals and semifinals will take place Saturday, and the finals will be Sunday.

The Huskers return eight letterwinners from last season’s team that went 12-11 and finished No. 76 in the ITA rankings. NU will take everyone to the ITA Regionals except sophomore Jennifer Cremieux, who has been sidelined by injuries.

"We are really excited for this tournament," NU Coach Scott Jacobson said. "It will be a great competition, and it will give us a good idea of where we’re at in our region."

Several Huskers have already enjoyed success during the fall season. Junior Gitte Ostermann is 8-1 wtih four wins over ranked opponents. Seniors Anna Oehme, Rebecca Harvey and Rose Ketmayura all advanced to the finals of their respective flights at the Lloyd Stokstad Invitational last weekend, with Oehme winning her flight.

Oehme Goes Undefeated at Drake Tournament
Nebraska senior Anna Oehme won the Lloyd Stokstad Invitational White Flight with a 6-2, 6-2, win over teammate Rebecca Harvey in an all-Husker final Oct. 19. Oehme finished the tournament with a 4-0 record. All four of Oehme’s wins were in straight sets. Harvey, also a senior, finished the tournament with a 3-1 record. NU senior Rose Ketmayura (3-1) also played Sunday, falling to Colorado State’s Carla Pallares, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in the Grey Flight finals.

Ostermann Finishes 8-1 at All-American Championships
Junior Gitte Ostermann defeated Denver’s Suzana Maksovic, 6-1, 6-2, on Oct. 10 to win the consolation bracket of the prestigious Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships. Ostermann’s finish was the best ever by a Husker at the tournament. She ended the event with an 8-1 record, including four victories over ranked opponents. Ostermann, a junior from Luneberg, Germany, also defeated 97th-ranked Maja Kovacek of Maryland, 7-5, 6-2, 48th-ranked Melissa Applebaum of Miami and Harvard’s Eva Wang, who is ranked No. 51 nationally.

Nebraska Features Experienced Squad in 2003-04
The 2003-04 Huskers will feature eight returning letterwinners from a 2003 squad that went 12-11 and finished the season ranked No. 76 in the ITA rankings. Nebraska will be led by junior Gitte Ostermann, who posted an 8-6 record in 2003. Ostermann earned All-Big 12 Conference honors last season, becoming the first Husker to win the award since Gina Pelazini and Sandra Noetzel in 2000.

The Huskers also return a solid group of seniors in Leslie Harvey, Rebecca Harvey, Rose Ketmayura and Anna Oehme. Leslie Harvey finished the season with a 9-12 singles record while competing primarily at the No. 2-3 spots. Ketmayura went 8-12, including a 2-2 mark at No. 2 singles. Oehme contributed at the 3-5 spots and recorded a 14-6 record, the best singles mark of any Husker. Rebecca Harvey went 10-5 while playing mostly in the bottom half of the lineup.

Other returning letterwinners include junior Katie Garcia and sophomores Pamela Castillejos and Jennifer Cremieux. NU lists one newcomer, sophomore Milena Schulz-Gartner.