Huskers Host Two Matches in Lincoln This Week

The No. 70 Nebraska women’s tennis team concludes a seven-match season-opening homestand this weekend when it plays host to two opponents at Woods Tennis Center. NU will take on Air Force Thursday, Feb. 12, at 4 p.m., before opening its Big 12 Conference schedule against No. 17 Texas Saturday at 10 a.m.

Nebraska is off to a fast start in 2004. The Huskers are a perfect 5-0, winning their matches by a combined score of 31-4. NU has shutout three teams, 7-0, including Montana State, Wichita State and Wyoming. The Huskers’ top win thus far was a 5-2 triumph on Feb. 1 over Illinois Chicago, a perennial NCAA Tournament qualifier.

Although Nebraska was without top singles player Gitte Ostermann, who has been sidelined with tendonitis, the Huskers have combined for a 26-4 singles record, including perfect 5-0 marks at the Nos. 2, 3, and 5 spots. Nebraska has also benefited from strong doubles play. The Huskers are a combined 13-2 through five matches.

A Quick Look at Air Force and Texas
Air Force is 2-2 coming off a 6-1 loss to No. 57 Colorado Feb. 7. The Falcons are coached Kim Gidley, who is the first civilian coach in the program’s 26-year history. Gidley, now in her fifth season, has led Air Force to three winning seasons. Senior Gina Black led the Falcons last season with a 26-12 record. Senior Laura Nigro is a native of Lincoln and a Pius X graduate.

Texas is 2-0, defeating Richmond in its season-opener before knocking off then-No. 8 William and Mary, 4-3, Jan. 24. The Longhorns feature two players with an ITA ranking, including No. 31 Petra Dizdar, a freshman from Split, Croatia, and No. 52 Kendra Strohm, a sophomore from Tucson, Ariz. Texas is one of the youngest teams in the Big 12, as seven of the eight players on its roster are freshmen and sophomores.

Texas Coach Jeff Moore owns a 458-141 record in his 22nd season in Austin.

Nebraska has never defeated UT in six meetings. NU is 1-0 all-time vs. Air Force.

Nebraska Notables

• Three Huskers remain undefeated with a 5-0 record, including seniors Leslie Harvey and Anna Oehme and sophomore Pamela Castillejos.
• Castillejos is the only Husker who has not lost a singles or doubles match. She is 2-0 at No. 4 singles, 3-0 at the No. 5 spot and 2-0 at No. 3 doubles with sophomore Jennifer Cremieux.
• Oehme needs just two more singles victories to hit the 40-win mark for her career. Harvey is just four wins away from amassing 50 career singles victories.
• Junior Gitte Ostermann saw her first competition of the spring Feb. 8 against Wyoming, when she teamed with Katie Garcia for a win at No. 3 doubles. Ostermann, the nation’s No. 19 singles player, has been sidelined with injuries in 2004 after an impressive fall season in which she posted a 14-4 record.

Ostermann Ranked 19th in ITA Poll
Nebraska junior Gitte Ostermann earned the No. 19 spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Women’s preseason rankings released on Jan. 12, the highest ranking ever for a Husker women’s tennis player. Ostermann, who was previously unranked, raced up the charts after producing a 14-4 fall record, including an 8-3 mark against opponents listed in the preseason rankings. Only two players in the country had more top-100 wins than Ostermann during the fall.

Ostermann, the Huskers’ No. 1 singles player for the past two seasons, owns a 29-16 career record and was a first-team All-Big 12 pick in 2003 despite playing with a injured shoulder. Her previous high ranking came two years ago when she was ranked No. 55 as a freshman.

Huskers Face Difficult Schedule
Nebraska will play an extremely difficult schedule in 2004, as 12 of the Huskers’ 23 regular-season matches are against teams ranked in the ITA Division I preseason rankings. NU is finishing a season-opening stretch of six straight contests against unranked opponents before a stretch from Feb. 14 to March 13 in which five of six opponents are ranked, including No. 17 Texas (Feb. 14) and No. 24 Texas A&M (March 13).

The Huskers face a particularly tough stretch in April, when six of the seven teams they face are ranked. The Big 12 Championships begin April 29, in Norman, Okla. Ten Big 12 teams, including No. 68 Nebraska, are ranked in the ITA preseason poll.

Nebraska Coach Scott Jacobson
In his 13th year, Scott Jacobson continues to lead Nebraska to success on the national level despite battling one of the toughest conferences in the nation.

WIth a career-record of 152-118, Jacobson is the winningest coach in Nebraska women’s tennis history. He has led the Huskers to a national ranking in each of the past seven seasons. NU has also produced seven straight winning seasons under Jacobson’s leadership. Jacobson’s top seasons were in 2000 and 2001, when he guided the program to consecutive 19-6 records.

Jacobson has coached six Big 12 Conference champions and three all-conference players, including Gitte Ostermann in 2003. A school-record five Nebraska women’s tennis players were named to the Academic All-Big 12 team last season. In Jacobson’s 12 years, the Huskers have combined for 24 academic all-conference honors, including 15 first-team accolades.

In 2003, Jacobson led NU to a 12-11 record and a No. 76 ranking. Nebraska defeated two ranked teams, including No. 71 Eastern Michigan and No. 66 Denver.