Huskers Travels to Iowa and Kansas for Two Road Conference Tests

    The No. 31 Nebraska women’s tennis team travels to Ames, Iowa, to take on IowaState on Saturday, April 16 at 11 a.m., before going to Manhattan, Kansas, to face KansasState on Wednesday, April 20 at 2 p.m.  The Big Red enters these road battles with a conference best 15-2 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference.  NU finishes out the season with its final three matches on the road.

On April 3, Nebraska faced OklahomaState on senior day.  Nebraska started quickly, taking two out of three doubles matches.  At the No. 2 slot, junior Ewelina Skaza and freshman Imke Reimers improved to 14-3 on the year when they rolled over Jessica Collins and Snadra Bloajer, 8-1.  At the No. 3 slot, junior Pamlea Castillejos and freshman Ellinor Zugner clinched the doubles point by defeating Lauren Simmons and Jennifer Poskitt, 8-6.

In singles play, NU split the six single points with OSU to clich victory for the Huskers.  At the No. 2 slot, Reimers won a three-set thriller over Zana Masnic, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2, while at the No. 4 slot, Castillejos picked up her team-high 16th victory over Collins in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.  Nebraska won the match, 4-3.  Although, both senior Gitte Ostermann and senior Katie Garcia lost on senior day, it does not diminish their accomplishments while wearing the scarlet and cream.

Ostermann, a three-time All-Big 12 selection and a three-time academic All-Big 12 selection, is fourth on NU’s career singles wins chart with 71.  She has attained the highest singles ranking in school history, No. 18, and with Garcia the highest doubles ranking of No. 23.  Ostermann has been NU’s No. 1 singles player all four years. 

Garcia is Nebraska’s first three-time captain.  She has posted 31 career singles wins and has tied Amy Frisch for fourth on NU’s career doubles chart with 45 wins.

NU slipped to No. 30 ranking in the ITA national rankings released Tuesday, even though NU did not play last weekend.  This is the second-highest ranking in school history.  Only two conference teams, No. 11 Texas and No. 12 Baylor, are ranked higher than NU.

With its victory over OSU, Nebraska tied its mark for the most conference wins in a single season under Head Coach Scott Jacobson with six.  NU also posted six wins in league play in 1999 and 2000.  Ostermann, ranked No. 32 nationally, is one win away from reaching fifth on NU’s single season wins chart with 23. She has won a career-high 13 matches this season, all at the No. 1 slot.

Several Huskers are experiencing the best seasons of their careers.  Castillejos has posted a career-best 16 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.  Castillejos, with a 19-2 season record, is on pace to have the best single season winning percentage in school history of .905.

This year, the Huskers have achieved several all-time highs. NU began the season ranked No. 71 before shooting up in the ITA rankings 41 spots to No. 30, the highest in school history.  The previous high of No. 39 was achieved in 2001.  Ostermann was ranked No. 18 in singles, the highest in school history, while the doubles team of Garcia and Ostermann received a No. 23 ranking, which is also 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 came out of that stretch in good shape, taking four out of five matches.    

 

A Look at the IowaState Cyclones

Iowa State enters the weekend with a 1-11 overall record and an 0-10 mark in conference.  ISU has played seven ranked teams this season, including No. 10 Texas, No. 15 Baylor and No. 37 Texas A&M.  The Cyclones only victory came against Northern Colorado, 5-2.  ISU narrowly missed defating MurrayState, 3-4, in the second match of the season.  A loss to KansasState last week marked the eighth time this year the Cyclones were shut out.

Iowa State has a young lineup, featuring no seniors.  Sophomore Jill Palen is the Cyclones No. 1 singles player.  The Rochester, Minn., native has posted a 2-9 record at that spot and defeated No. 102 Katka Sevcikova of Missouri, 6-5, 7-4.  

Head Coach Michele Conlon is in her 14th year at ISU and owns a 75-162 record.  Last year, Conlon led the Cyclones to a 5-14 record.  Sabrina Evers is in her first year as a Student Assistant. 

  

Huskers-Cyclones History

   Nebraska leads the all-time series with IowaState, 29-3.  Twenty-nine wins marks the most victories for NU over a conference foe.  Last season on March 26, the Huskers claimed their first conference victory of the season, defeating ISU, 7-0.  Gitte Ostermann dominated at the No.1 singles slot, defeating Sabrina Evers, 6-1, 6-2, while at the No. 6 slot, Rebecca Harvey rolled over Charlotte Ljungkrantz, 6-0, 6-2.

   Nebraska took two out of the three doubles matches, with Anna Oehme and Milena Schulz-Gartner defeating Jill Palen and Ljungkrantz at the No. 3 slot, 8-2, while Ostermann and Katie Garcia beating, 8-2, over Elizabeth Chermel and Danielle Uscinski at the No. 2 slot.

 

A Look at the KansasState Wildcats

   Kansas State enters the weekend having won three out of its last four matches.  KSU has posted a 7-7 record and a 2-4 mark in conference.  The Wildcats have faced seven ranked teams, including No. 26 BYU and No. 15 Baylor.  KansasState has defeated one ranked team this season, now No. 57 Texas Tech.

   KSU is led by two seniors and its lineup features four freshmen.  Home town product senior Maria Rosenberg is the Wildcats’ No. 1 singles player.  She has an 8-6 record and defeated No. 112 Maryori Franco, 6-0, 6-4.

   Steve Bietau is in his 21st year as head coach all at KSU and  owns a 194-244 career record.  Andres Gonzales  is serving his fourth year as Bietau’s assistant. 

 

Huskers-Wildcats History

   Nebraska owns a 26-8 all-time series record in the KSU series.  Last season, on April 10, Leslie Harvey defeated Paulina Castillejos in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 3 slot, while at the No. 4 slot, Rose Ketmayura rolled over Hayley McIver, 6-3, 6-1.  Nebraska earned its second conference win of the season, defeating KSU, 7-0.

  

About the Huskers ...

4Nebraska has produced eight straight winning seasons including 2005.

4Nebraska’s 16 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 singles ranking of No. 18 was the highest in school history.

4Senior Katie Garcia and Ostermann’s doubles ranking of No. 23 was 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 achieved the highest ranking in school history when the Huskers were ranked No. 30 on March 30.

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

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

4No. 28 Texas A&M is believed to be the highest ranked team NU has ever beaten, and the win was the first NU win over a top-40 team since its 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’ 16 wins marks her highest single-season win total, eclipsing her previous high of 10 victories last season.

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

 

A Quick Look at the Probable Husker Lineup

4No. 1 singles - Gitte Ostermann (13-3): Ostermann is ranked No. 35 nationally in the ITA rankings.  For two weeks, Ostermann was ranked No. 18, which represented the highest ranking in school history.  Ostermann had a strong fall campaign, recording nine victories and winning the ITA Regional Championships in Tulsa, Okla.  She has won 13 of her first 16 matches this spring.

4No. 2 singles - Imke Reimers (12-5): The freshman is 12-5 to start the season, including 11 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 seven of her last eight 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 (12-5): 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 (16-1):The junior currently is on an 13-match winning streak at the No. 5 slot, the longest of her career.  During that time, Castillejos has dropped only two sets at the 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 six conference wins.

4No. 6 singles - Katie Garcia (10-5): A three-year captain, Garcia tied her career-long winning streak of six matches earlier this season.  Garcia has amassed 31 career singles wins.