Huskers Take First Road Trip of 2004

The No. 71 Nebraska women’s tennis team will take its first road trip of the season this weekend after opening the season with seven straight home matches. NU travels to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20. Saturday, the Huskers will face Yale at 9 a.m. Both matches are at Jesse Owens West Recreation Center.

The Buckeyes are 1-2 after picking up a win over Penn State, 7-0, last week. They are coached by Chuck Merzbacher, who is in his eighth season. No. 64 Yale is 2-1 after falling to Wake Forest over the weekend. Yale is coached by Chad Skorupka, who is in his third year.

Nebraska coming of a 1-1 weekend in which it defeated Air Force, 7-0, but fell in its Big 12 opener to No. 16 Texas, 6-1. The loss to the Longhorns’ was NU’s first of the season, as they fell to 6-1 in 2004.

Overall, the Huskers have dropped just nine of the 42 singles matches in which they have played. NU has been most successful at the No. 3 spot, where senior Anna Oehme is 5-0 and senior Leslie Harvey is 2-0.

Up Next
After their weekend in Ohio, the Huskers will take on in-state rival Creighton next Friday, Feb. 27, at 4 p.m. before returning to Big 12 action at No. 35 Baylor on March 6, at 10 a.m. in Waco ,Texas.

Nebraska Notables

• The Huskers have shutout four teams 7-0 in 2004, including Montana State, Wichita State, Wyoming and Air Force. Nebraska’s biggest win so far was Feb. 1 over perennial NCAA Tournament qualifier Illinois-Chicago
• Two Huskers, sophomore Pamela Castillejos and senior Anna Oehme, lost their first singles matches of the season Saturday, Feb. 14, against Texas. Senior Leslie Harvey is the only NU player who still boasts an undefeated record. She is 7-0 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play.
• Oehme needs just one more singles victories to hit the 40-win mark for her career. Leslie Harvey is just two 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, had been sidelined with injuries in 2004 after an impressive fall season in which she posted a 14-4 record.

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 153-119, 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.