The Huskers Set for Key Conference Match with Aggies

The No. 49 Nebraska women's tennis team plays host to the conference's second- ranked team in No. 41 Texas A&M Sunday, April 9, at 11 a.m. at the WoodsTennisCenter or the NU Varisty Courts.  Weather permitting, the match will be played outside at the NU Varsity Courts.  If inclimate weather becomes imminent, the match will be played at the Woods Tennis Center.

Nebraska is coming off of an emotional conference win over No. 62 Kansas on Wednesday, April 6.  The Huskers shot out of the gates quickly, wasting little time taking the doubles point.  At the No. 1 spot, senior Ewelina Skaza and sophomore Imke Reimers defeated Ksenia Bukina and Elizabeth Avdeeva, 8-4.  Senior Milena Schulz-Gartner and freshman Kim Hartmann clinched the doubles point for NU, as they topped Lauren Hommell and Edina Horvath, 8-4, at No. 2.

The Big Red then carried its momentum from doubles into singles play.  Senior Pamela Castillejos battled through nagging wrist and shoulder injuries to take her first win of the season at the No. 4 spot, with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Hommell at No. 4.  Freshman Vanessa Heute pulled out a close first set win over Stephanie Smith, 6-4 and did not look back, taking the second set, 6-0, at the No. 6 spot.

Nebraska then found itself needing one more victory for the team win and it found that at No. 1.

Kansas took matches at the Nos. 3 and 5 spot, and with Avdeeva beating Imke Reimers at the No. 2 spot, all eyes turned to Hartmann.  Hartmann jumped out to an early lead, winning the first set, 6-2, but Bukina, who is ranked No. 107, took the second set, 6-1.  With the match tied, Hartmann turned in a 6-3 victory in the third set to give NU the win.

"We came out well and stayed strong in doubles," coach Scott Jacobson said.  "We played hard in doubles, and it helped our emotion going into singles play."

The Huskers improved to 12-6 on the season.

A Look at the Aggies

The Texas A&M Aggies come to Lincoln with a 10-8 overall record and are 6-0 in the conference.  TAMU's 10-8 record is deceiving as it has faced 14 ranked teams this season, including No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 12 Georgia Tech. 

TAMU is currently on a five-match winning streak, including blanking both No. 50 Texas Tech, No. 44 Colorado, and defeating No. 15 Texas, 6-1. 

The Aggies and the Huskers have faced three common opponents this season in CU, TTU and Texas.  Nebraska is 1-2 against the pair, defeating the Buffaloes 4-3 on March 12, but falling to the Longhorns 6-1 on Feb. 11 and to the Red Raiders 4-3 on March 26.

The Aggies have a young team this season.  Of their 11 players, only one is a senior.  They have dominated in conference play this year,  posting a .933 team winning percentage in singles play. 

Texas A&M's No. 1 singles player is junior Anna Lubinsky.  Lubinsky is 17-11 this season and is ranked No. 50 nationally.  She is gets the Aggies started singles play.  When she wins her match, Texas A&M is 8-2, but if she looses, it is 1-6.  She is 2-4 against ranked opponents, including facing No. 1 Kristi Miller of Georgia Tech, and has defeated No. 32 Catrina Thompson of Notre Dame and No. 68 Mia Marovic of Texas.

With TAMU's success in singles play this season, Nebraska has a chance to take an early lead in doubles play.  The Aggies have struggled this season in doubles play owning a .544 winning percentage this season, and only a .600 winning percentage in conference play.  Texas A&M has seen most of its struggles at the No. 3 spot, where it is 1-4 against Big 12 foes.  But TAMU's tandem of Lubinsky and Nicki Mechem is ranked No. 25 in the country and own a 10-1 record.

Texas A&M is led by coach Bobby Kleinecke. Kleinecke owns a 329-222 career record in his 21st season at A&M.             

Husker-Aggie History

Texas A&M holds an 8-2 advantage in the all-time series with Nebraska.  The last time the two met was Feb. 20, 2005.  Then-No. 53 Nebraska came to College Station, Texas, as underdogs, as the Aggies were ranked No. 28. 

Gitte Ostermann and Katie Garcia gave Nebraska an early emotional edge by upsetting the No. 28 doubles team of Lubinsky and Helga Viera, 8-3, and Skaza and Reimers clinched the doubles point for NU by defeating Anna Blagodarova and Marisa Druss, 8-2.

The Huskers then clincheed the victory for the Big Red with wins at the Nos. 1, 4 and 5 spots, to take the match, 4-3.

TAMU was the highest ranked team NU has beaten in school history and helped propel the Huskers into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.