Huskers Travel to Texas to Take on Red Raiders

The No. 32 Nebraska women’s tennis team travels to Texas this weekend to take on Texas Tech on Saturday, March 26, at 11 a.m. Texas Tech is the seventh conference team NU has faced this season and the fourth on the road. The Huskers will try to improve to 14-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12.

The Huskers moved up in the national rankings again last week to No. 32, the highest ranking in school history. The previous mark was set last week when Nebraska was ranked No. 36. The Big Red has been ranked for the entire year and has moved up 42 spots from its lowest ranking of No. 73.

The Huskers were rained out on Saturday, March 19. They were set to take on No. 67 Long Beach State in California for Nebraska’s fourth road test of the season. LBSU would have marked the eighth ranked opponent NU has faced all season.

NU plays four of its next five matches on the road after beginning the season with 10 of 12 matches at the Woods Tennis Center. The Huskers’ final remaining home contest is on April 3, when they face Oklahoma State.

Nebraska is just two wins away from tying its mark of six for the most conference wins in a single season under Head Coach Scott Jacobson, set in 1999 and 2000. Senior Gitte Ostermann, ranked No. 25 nationally, is three wins away from reaching fifth on NU’s single season wins chart with 25. She has won a career-high 12 matches this season, all at the No. 1 slot. Several Huskers are experienceing the best seasons of their careers. Castillejos has posted a career-best 14 wins this season, eclipsing her previous best of 10 wins, while Skaza is two wins away from matching her career best with 14 wins during her freshman year at Miami.

This year, the Huskers have achieved several all-time highs. NU began the season ranked No. 71 before shooting up in the ITA rankings to No. 31, the highest in school history. The previous high of No. 39 was achieved in 2001. Ostermann was ranked No. 18 in singles, while the doubles team of senior Katie Garcia and Ostermann received a No. 23 ranking, the highest in school history. Nebraska’s five wins over ranked opponents is believed to be the most in school history.

Earlier in the season, Nebraska played five straight nationally ranked teams. Of those five matches, only then-No. 72 Missouri was ranked below NU. The Huskers have come out of that stretch in good shape, taking four out of five matches.

A Look at the Texas Tech Red Raiders

Texas Tech enters the weekend with a 3-6 record and have won 3 out of the last four matches. The Red Raiders have faced four ranked teams, including No. 25 Oregon, No. 33 San Diego State and No. 37 Rice. Texas Tech narrowly missed the upset over San Diego State, falling 3-4 to the Aztecs.

Texas Tech has a young lineup this year, which includes four freshmen. The Red Raiders are led by junior team captain Tara Browning, who plays at the No. 1, 2 and 3 slots. Freshman Cigdem Duru, Texas Tech’s No. 1 singles player, has posted a 2-4 record at that slot and a 6-6 record overall.

Head Coach Cari Groce owns a 164-147 career record. She is in her second year at Texas Tech and led the Red Raiders to an 11-10 record last year.

Huskers-Red Raiders History

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Texas Tech, 9-5. Last year in Lincoln, Nebraska captured its third conference victory of the season with a dramatic 4-3 win over the Red Raiders. The Huskers jumped out to an early lead, 3-1, after winning the doubles point, and Anna Oehme ad Katie

Garcia picked up two singles points. Tech evened up the score by taking the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches. Rose Ketmayura defeated Texas Tech’s Lakann Wagley, 6-4, 6-5, to clich the victory for the Huskers in the No. 4 singles slot.

Nebraska improved to 13-6 and 3-4 in conference. Texas Tech fell to 10-7 on the season.

About the Huskers ...

4Nebraska has produced nine straight winning seasons including 2005.

4Nebraska’s 15 wins in 2004 represent its highest victory total since 2001. It also marks the fifth time in Coach Scott Jacobson’s tenure that NU has tallied at least 15 wins.

4The Big Red owns a 63-match home non-conference winning streak.

4Senior Gitte Ostermann’s season-high singles ranking of No. 18 is the highest in school history.

4Senior Katie Garcia and Ostermann’s season-high doubles ranking of No. 23 is the highest in school history.

4The Huskers won seven of the first eight matches of the season, including a 4-1 record over nationally ranked teams.

4NU’s win over Missouri marked the Huskers’ first conference-opening victory since 2001.

4NU’s season-high team ranking of No. 31 is the highest in school history, eclipsing the No. 36 ranking set two weeks ago.

4Nebraska’s win over No. 28 Texas A&M is NU’s second all-time win over the Aggies.

4Four Huskers have won more than 10 matches this year, including Ostermann juniors Pamela Castillejos and Ewelina Skaza and Imke Reimers.

4No. 28 Texas A&M is believed to be the highest ranked team NU has beaten and the win was the first NU win over a top-40 team since NU’s victory over No. 38 Ohio State in 2003.

4Nebraska’s five wins over ranked opponents is believed to be the most in school history.

4Castillejos’ 14 wins marks her highest single-season win total, eclipsing her previous high of 10 victories last season.

4The duo of Reimers and Skaza are two wins away from cracking the top-5 in single-season team doubles wins at Nebraska.

A Quick Look at the Probable Husker lineup

4No. 1 singles - Gitte Ostermann (12-2): Ostermann is ranked No. 25 nationally in the ITA rankings. For two weeks, Ostermann was ranked No. 18, which is the highest in school history. Ostermann had a strong fall campaign, recording nine victories and winning the ITA Regional Championships in Tulsa, Okla. She has won 12 of her first 14 matches this spring.

4No. 2 singles - Imke Reimers (10-5): The freshman is 10-5 to start the season, including four victories at the No. 2 slot. She recorded her first win as a Husker against Creighton on Jan. 20, blanking Deidre Senders, 6-0, 6-0. She narrowly missed pulling the upset against No. 47 Helga Vieira of Texas A&M when she lost in a three-set thriller, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. Reimers has won five of her last six matches.

4No. 3 singles - Milena Schulz-Gartner (9-5): Schulz-Gartner has played anywhere from the No. 2 slot to the No. 4 slot. She is 7-3 at the No. 3 singles slot and 1-1 at the No. 2 and 4 spots. Last year, Schulz-Gartner and former Husker Anna Oehme each tallied 18 victories to rank fourth all-time for single-season wins at Nebraska.

4No. 4 singles - Ewelina Skaza (12-3): A transfer from Miami, Skaza is undefeated in singles play at the No. 4 slot and has yet to drop a set at that spot. Skaza dropped two close sets against Texas’s Mia Marovic at the No. 3 slot, including forcing a second set tiebreaker, before falling, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6). Skaza has won 12 straight matches at the No. 4 slot.

4No. 5 singles - Pamela Castillejos (14-1): The junior currently is on an 11-match winning streak at the No. 5 slot, the longest of her career. During that time, Castillejos has dropped only two sets at this slot. Against No. 28 A&M, Castillejos clinched the historic victory with a win over Marisa Druss, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Castillejos leads the team with five conference wins.

4No. 6 singles - Katie Garcia (9-4): A three year captain, Garcia tied her career-long winning streak of six matches earlier this season. Garcia has amassed 30 career singles wins.