Nebraska Plays Host to Air Force and Drake

The No. 37 Nebraska women’s tennis team is set to play host to the Air Force Falcons on Friday, Feb. 3, at 4 p.m., and the Drake Bulldogs Sunday, Feb. 5, at 10 a.m. at the Woods Tennis Center.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

The Huskers have shot out of the gates quickly in 2006.  In the opening weekend of play, NU cruised to two straight victories over <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>ColoradoState and Illinois-Chicago.

On Friday, Jan. 27, the Huskers found themselves struggling to capture the crucial doubles point.  With a win at No. 2 doubles by freshman Kim Hartmann and senior Milena Schulz-Gartner and a loss at the No. 1 spot, the weight of a doubles point fell on sophomore Ellinor Zugner and senior Jennifer Cremieux’s shoulders.  The duo bounced back from a 7-4 deficit and defeated the Rams’ Jessica Jones and Greer Satherlie, 9-7.

The Big Red’s touted freshman, No. 36 Kim Hartmann, saw her first action of the spring season as a Husker beginning at the No. 1 singles spot.  Hartmann, after posting a 7-2 fall record, did not look back and rolled over CSU’s Emily Kirchem, 6-1, 6-1.  Senior captain Pamela Castillejos turned in a dominating performance to start the season defeating Jasim Singh, 6-1, 6-3.

The Huskers defeated the Rams 5-2 and improved their record over the Rams to a perfect 2-0 all-time.

On Sunday, Jan. 29, NU turned in its most dominating performance of the weekend, when it defeated Illinois-Chicago, 6-1.  Sophomore Imke Reimers and Castillejos led the Huskers to a sweep in doubles, defeating Corey Steven and Callan Smith, 8-5.

Freshman Vanessa Heute battled through a nagging ankle injury and turned in a 6-2, 7-5, motivational victory.  Reimers carried that momentum over to the singles court and blanked Molly Smith, 6-0, 6-0.  The win marked the second 6-0, 6-0 victory in Reimers’s career.

With the two victories over the weekend, Nebraska extended its home non-conference winning streak to 65 matches.  Of the seven teams in the Big 12 who have played matches so far this season, including No. 15 Texas and No. 34 Texas A&M, the Huskers joined the No. 9 Baylor Bears and the No. 67 Kansas State as the only teams in the conference who remain undefeated.

“It was good to get the jitters out and gain confidence,” coach Scott Jacobson said.  “We are taking a step in the right direction.”              
Jacobson, who is Nebraska’s winningest coach, is two wins shy of 185 victories.  With a weekend sweep of Air Force and Drake, Jacobson would become Nebraska’s first coach to reach 185 wins.

 

A Look at the Falcons

The Air Force Falcons enter Lincoln with a 3-3 record.  There has been little middle ground in the Falcon’s results, with every win or loss has been decided by a seven point margin.  The Falcons have fallen to three ranked teams, No. 55 Colorado, No. 49 Virginia Commonwealth and No. 20 College of William and Mary.

Air Force returns five players from a squad that went 8-18 last season.  Senior Kate Bushey is Air Force’s No. 1 singles player and will likely be matched-up against Hartmann.  She has posted a 10-10 record and is on a three-match winning streak.  Freshman Christine Abayan, USAFA’s No. 2 player, has posted 11 wins since the beginning of the fall season, the most on the Falcons’ squad. 
Bushey and Abayan have posted a 15-6 doubles record and are ranked No. 8 regionally. 

 

Husker-Falcon History

The Huskers and the Falcons last met on Feb. 12, 2004, in Lincoln.  NU entered the match ranked No. 70.  In doubles action, Milena Schulz-Gartner and Anne Oehme trailed 7-5 at the No. 2 doubles spot before rallying off four straight points to win the match and clinch the doubles point for the Huskers. 

At the No. 1 singles, Ostermann won her first singles match of the spring season, defeating Laura Nigfo, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

The Huskers lead the all-time series 2-0.

 

A Look at the Bulldogs

Drake comes to Lincoln with a 0-2 record, after losing a pair of matches to No. 67 Kansas State and Kansas.

Drake’s lone victory over the weekend came at the No. 2 doubles spot on Jan. 29 when Veronika Lesyova and Sarah Plowman defeated KSU’s Olga Klimova and Fernanda De Valle, 9-8 (7-4).

The Bulldogs Irina Kalashnikova, who is DU’s No. 1 singles player, posted a 5-2 fall record.  At the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championship, she recorded two straight wins as she advanced to the finals before falling to IndianaState’s Joanne Schickerling.

 

Husker-Bulldog History

Nebraska and Drake met last in 2005.  The No. 38 Huskers dominated Drake, 7-0, extending NU’s non-conference home winning streak to 61.  Imke Reimers victory at No. 2 singles set the tone for the rest of the season for Reimers. Reimers went on to win eight of her next nine matches.

At the No. 1 doubles spot, the duo of Gitte Ostermann and Katie Garcia, 2005 first-team doubles All-Big 12 selections, played in their closest match of the season.  After struggling early, Ostermann and Garcia, then-ranked No. 23 nationally, took the match, 9-8.

The all-time series between the is tied 13-13.

 

A Quick Look at the Probable Husker Lineup

4No. 1 singles - Kim Hartmann (7-2): Ranked No. 36 nationally which is the highest national ranking for a freshman in school history.  She is also ranked No. 9 in the singles Central Regional rankings.  Hartmann has defeated three ranked players, then-No. 28 Anca Anastasiu of USC, then-No. 78 Melissa Anderson of Harvard and then-No. 100 Ilona Somers of Ole Miss.  Anastasiu is the highest-ranked player a Husker has beaten since Gitte Ostermann defeated then-No. 22 Nataly Cahana of Old Dominion in 2003.  Hartmann defeated ColoradoState’s Emily Kirchem, 6-1, 6-1, and defeated UIC’s Callahn Smith, 6-0, 6-0.

4No. 2 singles - Vanessa Heute (5-2): The freshman is 1-1 to start the season.  Heute saw her first action at the ITA Regionals where she rolled through the Qualifying tournament with two victories, including defeating KU’s Brittany Brown, to advance to the Main Draw of the Tournament.  Heute recorded her first spring victory as a Husker when she battled through an ankle injury and defeated UIC’s Corey Steven, 6-2, 7-5.

4No. 3 singles - Imke Reimers (8-2): Reimers posted two wins in the first weekend of spring play.   On Sunday, Reimers posted her second career 6-0, 6-0 victory as she defeated UIC’s Molly Smith.  The fiery Reimers showed her resiliency at the ITA Regionals.  After dropping her first match of the Main Draw, she bounced back to take four consecutive victories and capture the Consolation Bracket Championship.  After posting a 6-2 fall singles record, Reimers was ranked No. 21 in the Central Regional rankings, and No. 7 in the regional doubles rankings with Skaza.

4No. 4 singles -  Milena Schulz-Gartner (1-3): A third-year player who has competed near the top of the Husker lineup throughout her career in Lincoln.  As a sophomore, she posted a 20-win season, and as a junior she went 7-4 at the No. 3 spot, where three of her four losses were three-set thrillers.  Schulz-Gartner recorded her first win of the spring when she defeated CSU’s Jessica Jones, 6-0, 6-3.

4No. 5 singles - Pamela Castillejos (2-1):The senior enters her final season as a Husker as team captain.  She returns as the Huskers’ most productive player.  In 2005, the senior from Mexico set the school’s best single-season winning percentage (.880) as she posted a 22-3 record.  Castillejos continued her winning ways this past weekend defeating Jasmin Singh of ColoradoState, 6-1, 6-3, and UIC’s Christina Oum, 6-0, 6-1.

4No. 6 singles - Jennifer Cremieux (5-0): In her first competition since her sophomore year, the senior from Canada rolled through the singles flight at the Lloyd Stokstad Invitational, posting four straight victories and winning the singles tournament.  In doubles, she teamed with sophomore Ellinor Zugner to outscore opponents 24-1 in three straight victories at the Lloyd Stokstad.  The duo finished third in doubles, posting a 3-1 tournament record.                       

 

About the Huskers ...

4Nebraska has produced eight straight winning seasons.

4Nebraska’s 18 wins in 2005 represents its third highest victory total under Jacobson. 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 65 match home non-conference winning streak.

4Freshman Kim Hartmann received the first national ranking of her career, No. 36.

4Hartmann’s No. 36 ranking is the highest national ranking for a Husker freshman in school history.

4The Huskers have a history of starting the season fast.  NU has won four of its first matches for eight straight seasons.

4The Big Red has posted at least a six-match win streak to start the last two seasons.

4Nebraska’s No. 38 team national ranking is the highest ranking to begin the season in school history.

4NU’s No. 37 national ranking is the highest NU ranking since April 28, 2005.

4NU achieved the highest ranking in school history when the Huskers were ranked No. 30 on March 30, 2005.

4Both of NU’s newcomers, Hartmann and Heute, enter the season regionally ranked, and play at the Nos. 1 and 2 singles spots in the Husker lineup.                          .
4Wins by Hartmann and Heute over the weekend mark their first spring wins at NU.

4Hartmann’s regional ranking, No. 9, is believed to be the highest regional ranking for a freshman in school history.

4Castillejos’ 22 wins last season mark her highest single-season win total, eclipsing her previous high of 10 victories in 2004.

4The 17 doubles victories by Reimers and Skaza last season rank fifth on NU’s single season doubles wins.

4Castillejos’ 22-3 season record last year marks the best single season winning percentage in school history at .880.

4With 183 wins in 14 years, Head Coach Scott Jacobson is Nebraska’s winningest and longest serving coach in school history.

4Pamela Castillejos enters her senior season as team captain.

4Sophomore Imke Reimers’ No. 21 regional ranking marks the first time she has entered the season regionally ranked.

4Reimers’s 6-0, 6-0 victory on Sunday marks the second-time in her career she has blanked an opponent.

4Sunday’s match with Drake will break a 13-13 series tie.

4With two wins this weekend, Jacobson would become NU’s first coach to reach 185 wins.