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The No. 71 Nebraska men's tennis team looks to end a three-match losing streak and pick up its first conference victory of the season when it tries to knock off No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 39 Texas this weekend on the road. The Aggies and Huskers will begin the weekend's action in College Station, Texas, on Saturday, April 16, at 6 p.m. at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Nebraska will then face off against the Longhorns in Austin ? the site of the 2005 Big 12 Championships ? on Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m. at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
The Huskers enter the weekend looking to get back on the winning track after dropping three straight matches, and seven of their last nine. Five of the seven loses have been to nationally ranked squads, including the last three straight.
All eight teams that support men's tennis in the Big 12 Conference are ranked in the national ITA poll, including: No. 1 Baylor, No. 9 Texas Tech, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 14 Oklahoma State, No. 39 Texas, No. 42 Oklahoma, No. 59 Colorado and No. 71 Nebraska. Nebraska is 1-6 on the season against ranked opponents, with its lone win coming in the first dual match of the year against No. 16 Rice, 4-3.
Nebraska will face an up-hill battle against the Aggies and Longhorns.
TAMU is 9-6 overall and tied for third in the conference standings as it owns a 2-1 league mark with wins over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Aggies have three players listed in the ITA singles rankings this week, including No. 23 Jerry Makowski (7-6 this spring at the top two slots). Ante Matijevic (No. 94) and Bryan Wooten (No. 105) have also landed in the rankings with 8-6 and 10-3 spring records, respectively. In doubles play, the Aggies boast one of the top tandems in the country in Matijevic and Brett Joelson, who are ranked No. 20 in the nation with a 10-2 mark at the top spot, including a 3-0 league record.
Texas also enters the weekend with a 9-6 record on the year but owns a 1-3 mark in conference play. The Longhorns have lost to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, while their only win was over Colorado. UT is paced by three players in the top 90 of the ITA singles rankings, including No. 36 Callum Beale (10-5), No. 65 Roger Gubser (8-5) and No. 87 Travis Helgeson (12-3). The Texas duo of Beale and Helgeson are also ranked No. 50 nationally after posting a 5-4 record this spring at the No. 1 position.
Next Up for the Huskers
Following this weekend's action, the Huskers end the regular-season by facing their fifth straight ranked conference opponent and third straight from the Lone Star state, when they take on Texas Tech in Lincoln on Friday, April 22. The match against the Red Raiders ? which will also mark Senior Day for NU's two seniors, Joel Reckewey and Jose Rivera ? will begin at 2 p.m. at the NU Varsity Courts.
The Huskers then enter the Big 12 Championships on Friday, April 29. Texas will play host to the championships in Austin.
Nebraska Continues Run in National Poll
The Cornhuskers remained in the ITA poll for the 11th straight week despite falling to No. 71 nationally on April 5. The 11 straight weeks in the national poll is NU's longest run since at least 2000.
The Huskers moved up for two straight weeks before falling six notches to No. 66 on March 29. Nebraska's highest ranking this season came on Feb. 1 when the Huskers entered the poll at No. 55. The next ranking will come out on April 19.
Nebraska was ranked once last season when it came in at No. 75 for one week. Before that, NU's last appearance in the ITA national rankings came in 2002 when the Huskers spent eight weeks ? including seven consecutive ? in the poll and finished the year at No. 72.
Net Notes
Senior Jose Rivera leads the Huskers with a 15-8 record this spring, including 13 dual match singles wins...the 15 wins are just two off Rivera's career spring total (three years) entering this season...sophomore James Clow has 12 singles wins this season to rank second on the team, after posting just eight victories as a rookie last year...Clow has the Huskers' best record at the No. 2 singles slot in 2005 with a 6-2 mark...the tandem of Clow and Adrian Szatmary paces the Huskers with a 6-2 record in doubles action, all at the No. 3 slot...Clow and Szatmary picked up their first Big 12 victory of the year last weekend with an 8-6 win over Oklahoma's Ivanov and Chavarria...Jerry Posch is one of three Huskers with at least 10 singles wins...Posch has won four of his last six singles matches, all at the No. 1 position.