Huskers Head to Baylor to Battle Bears

The No. 43 Nebraska women’s tennis team travels to Waco, Texas, to take on the No. 16 Baylor Bears on Saturday, March 4, at 2 p.m.  The match with Baylor marks the fourth nationally ranked team NU has faced this year, and the first on the road.

The Huskers hold a 7-2 record and are 1-1 in the conference, while the Bears are 6-2 and 1-0 in the conference.

 

Nebraska started out the weekend in style, dominating MissouriState, 7-0, on Friday, Feb. 24.  The Huskers put pressure on the Bears right from the beginning.  At the No. 1 doubles slot, sophomore Imke Reimers and senior Pamela Castillejos got the ball rolling for NU, downing MSU’s Liz Garza and Nora Kuruc, 8-2.  Senior Milena Schulz-Gartner and freshman Kim Hartmann capitalized on Reimers’ and Castillejos’ momentum, defeating Maja Stanojevic and Monika Mosilova, 8-2.

 

The Huskers continued to play at a  high level throughout singles play.  Freshman Vanessa Heute, who was playing at the No. 3 singles spot, was out to regain her form from the fall, when she posted a 4-1 record.  Heute came out of the gates quickly, taking the first set, 6-3, but falling in the second set, 4-6, to Stanojevic.  The match went to a super-breaker, where the freshman from Germany pulled out a close victory, 11-9.  The three-set match marks her third in her last four matches.    

 

The No. 1 singles spot featured a match-up of the No. 9 central regional player in Hartmann and the No. 26 central regional player in Garza.  Hartmann made quick work of Garza, blanking her, 6-0, 6-0. 

 

Reimers played in her first match since receiving the first national ranking of her career.  No. 100 Reimers overcame some early first-match woes to defeat Kuruc, 6-4.  Reimers settled down in the second set to quickly down Kuruc, 6-1.

 

With the victory, Nebraska improved to 7-1 on the year and extended its home non-conference winning streak to 69 matches.

On Sunday, Feb. 26, the then-No. 48 Iowa Hawkeyes came to Lincoln trying to avenge their 5-2 loss to the Huskers from last season.  Doubles play set the tone early with two matches taken to match tiebreakers.  Iowa’s duo of Meg Racette and Jacqueline Lee, who are ranked No. 9 in the midwest region, proved to be too much for Reimers and Skaza at the No. 1 doubles spot, 11-9.   

 

With a Nebraska victory at the No. 2 spot, the crucial doubles point came down to the match at No. 3.  Freshman Ellinor Zugner and senior Pamela Castillejos sent the match with Kayla Berry and Krissy Dowlin into a tiebreaker, fighting back from a 5-1 deficit, but the Husker duo couldn’t hold on, falling, 9-8 (7-5).

 

Team captain Castillejos bounced back from a discouraging doubles loss and got NU onto the board with a singles victory at the No. 5 spot, 7-5, 6-4, over Berry.  In a highly emotional match at the No. 2 slot, Reimers faced Mintz in the day’s longest match.  Mintz took the first set, 7-6 (7-4), but couldn’t fend off Reimers.  The Husker sophomore came back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set tiebreaker to win the second set, 7-6 (8-6), and force a super-breaker for the match.  After long, grueling points, Reimers had enough left in the tank to take the match, 11-9.  Skaza fought through nagging injuries to take a three-set thriller with Dowlin, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

 

The Huskers’ efforts proved not to be enough.  The Hawkeyes defeated the Big Red, 4-3, snapping NU’s 69 match home non-conference winning streak.

 

“It was a hard fought loss,” coach Scott Jacobson said.  “Iowa played at a high level but we just need to stay positive and keep our heads up.  Reimers showed classic signs of her heart today.  She is one of the most competitive players I have ever coached.  I am very proud of her.”

 

A Look at the Bears

The No. 16 Baylor Bears are one of the most talented teams in the Big 12.  Baylor owns a 7-2 overall record and a 1-0 record in the conference.  Seven of Baylor’s nine opponents have been ranked, and BU’s only losses this season have come against No. 7 Duke and No. 15 Vanderbilt.  Baylor has defeated three top-25 teams, including No. 13 TCU and No. 19 BYU.  The Bears are coming off of a tough test with TCU,  in which they defeated the Horned Frogs, 4-3.  After dropping the doubles point, Baylor pulled out four close singles matches.  Of those matches, two were three-set thrillers.

 

BU’s deep lineup includes a conference-high four ranked singles players.  The Bears’ No. 1 player is No. 12 sophomore Zuzana Zemenova who is the defending NCAA Singles Champion, Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Freshman of the Year.  Zemenova is 12-3 on the year, including 6-3 against ranked opponents.  Zemonova is coming off an upset of the No. 4 player nationally, Nicole Leimbach of TCU.  Zuzana Cerna is BU’s No. 2 and is ranked No. 16 nationally.  Cerna, reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, holds a team-high 25 wins and is 11-5 against ranked players. 

 

The Bears also boast the Nos. 88 and 97 players in junior Klara Zrustova and senior Daniella Covello, respectively.  Zrustova, who plays at No. 3 singles, posted a five-match winning streak in the Southwest Regional before falling to Cerna.  Covello, the only senior of BU’s ranked players, plays mostly at the No. 4 slot and is 2-5 against ranked players.

 

The Bears are led by coach Joey Scrivano is in his fourth year at Baylor.  He owns a 55-32 record with the Bears and a 115-50 career record.                                    

Husker-Bear History

Baylor holds a 9-1 edge in the all-time series with Nebraska.  Last season, the Bears came to Lincoln ranked No. 16 nationally and held a 6-2 record.  The Huskers were hot, winning 11 of their last 12, and on a four-match winning streak, including a win over then-No. 28 Texas A&M.  The match started quickly, with Nebraska’s Milena Schulz-Gartner and freshman Ellinor Zugner recording their first win together, defeating Iva Mihaylova and Zuzana Krchanakova, 8-5, at the No. 3 doubles slot.  NU fell short at the other two doubles spots, 8-4 (No. 1) slot and 8-5 (No. 2).

 

Zuzana Zemenova, who was ranked No. 57, upset No. 19 Gitte Ostermann, 6-3, 6-1.  At the No. 2 spot, Imke Reimers won an emotional match over Zuzana Cerna, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), and Pamela Castillejos defeated Iva Mihaylova in a three-set thriller, 7-5, 2-6, 10-6.  Baylor took two three-set matches and a win at No. 6 to claim a 5-2 victory the Huskers.      

A Quick Look at the Probable Husker Lineup

4No. 1 singles - Kim Hartmann (14-4): Hartmann started the season 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, including then-No. 28 Anca Anastasiu of USC.  Anastasiu is the highest-ranked player a Husker has beaten since Gitte Ostermann defeated then-No. 22 Nataly Cahana of Old Dominion in 2003.  During the spring, Hartmann’s only losses have come at the hands of No. 20 Aurelija Miseviciute of Arkansas and No. 39 Meg Racette.

 

4No. 2 singles - Imke Reimers (14-3): Reimers has posted eight wins in NU’s nine matches of spring play.   As a result, Reimers is now ranked No. 100 nationally, her first career national ranking.  Reimers has been hot as of late.  When then No. 57 Arkansas came to Lincoln, Reimers upset then-No. 38 Ela Kaluder in straight sets, 7-6 (2), 6-1.  Reimers showed composure in her three-set win over Iowa’s Hillary Mintz, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 13-11.  On Feb. 3, Reimers posted her third career 6-0, 6-0 victory as she defeated Lauren Wilson of Air Force.  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. 3 singles - Vanessa Heute (7-7):  Heute saw her first action at the ITA Regionals, where she rolled through the qualifying tournament with two victories, including a defeat of 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 Illinois-Chicago’s Corey Steven, 6-2, 7-5.  Heute’s record is deceiving as she has been a victim of three-set matches.  She has lost three of four this spring.

 

4No. 4 singles -  Milena Schulz-Gartner (5-6): Schulz-Gartner is 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 ColoradoState’s Jessica Jones, 6-0, 6-3. The senior has been playing well as of late, winning three of her last four matches.

 

4No. 5 singles - Pamela Castillejos (8-2): The senior entered her final season as a Husker as team captain and returned as Nebraska’s most productive player.  In 2005, she set the school’s best single-season winning percentage (.880) as she posted a 22-3 record.  Castillejos has won eight of nine matches this spring with her only loss coming in a three-set thriller against Texas’ Kelly Baritot, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

 

4No. 6 singles - Ewelina Skaza (6-4): Skaza recorded more than 40 combined victories in her first year as a Husker.  Although she has been plagued by an illness and a slight injury in the spring, she showed signs of consistency last fall, as she posted a 3-1 singles record at the Lloyd Sokstad Invitational at Drake, including a 1-1 mark against conference foes.  Skaza has won three of her last four matches.                         

About the Huskers ...

4Nebraska has produced eight straight winning seasons.

4The Big Red’s 69 match home non-conference winning streak was snapped by No. 40 Iowa.

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.

4Hartmann’s victory over No. 28 Anca Anastasiu is the highest ranked player NU has beaten since Gitte Ostermann defeated then-No. 22 Nataly Cahana of Old Dominion in 2003.

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

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

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

4NU’s No. 36 national ranking was the highest NU ranking since April 26, 2005.

4Nebraska has climbed in the national rankings in two of the past four weeks.

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, entered the season regionally ranked and play at the Nos. 1 and 3 singles spots in the Husker lineup.                 
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 188 wins in 15 years, Head Coach Scott Jacobson is Nebraska’s winningest and longest serving coach in school history.

4Pamela Castillejos entered her senior season as team captain.

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.

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

4Reimers’s 6-0, 6-0 victory on Feb. 3 marked the third-time in her career she has blanked an opponent.

4The Feb. 5 match with Drake broke a 13-13 series tie and gave the Big Red the edge in the series.

4With the Huskers’ win over Drake, Jacobson became NU’s first coach to reach 185 wins.

4NU’s win over No. 57 Arkansas marks its third home victory over a non-conference ranked opponent in the last two seasons.

4Sophomore Imke Reimers received her first career national ranking on Feb. 22.  Reimers currently is ranked No. 100

4Nebraska’s 15-match winning streak over MissouriState is the second-longest winning streak over a single team in school history.  Only a 20-match winning streak over Creighton is longer.

4A win over No. 16 Baylor would be the highest ranked opponent NU has ever beaten.

4Baylor is the second-highest ranked team NU has faced this season, only then-No. 3 Texas was ranked higher.

4Hartmann and Reimers hold a team-high 14-wins.

4The match with Baylor will break the tie for best overall record in the conference.

4Baylor marks the fourth ranked team NU has faced this season.