Huskers Finish Solid 2005-06 Season with Fifth Most Wins in School History

The No. 43 Nebraska women’s tennis team finished the 2006 season with a 17-10 record and was 6-5 in the conference.  The 17 wins rank fifth all-time in single-season history at NU.  The Huskers defeated eight ranked teams in 2006, more than any other team in school history.  The Big Red’s berth in the NCAA Tournament was only its second in school history, with its first coming in the 2005 season. 

The 2006 senior class led Nebraska to the most conference victories over a four-year stretch in school history with 21.  The class also posted 62 overall wins, which is believed to be only the sixth class in school hitory to post at least 60 wins. 

The class also posted several individual accomplishments.  Milena Schulz-Gartner moved into fourth on NU’s career doubles victories chart with 49 wins, while Castillejos posted a 22-3 singles record in 2004-05, yielding a .880 winning percentage which ranks No. 1 on season singles winning percentage.  In her first season as a Husker in 2005, Ewelina Skaza teamed with Imke Reimers to post 17 doubles victories, which ranks No. 5 on the school’s season doubles wins list.  Schulz-Gartner tied that mark this season, posting 17 wins with freshman Kim Hartmann.               

 

Nebraska Closes Out 2005-06 Season with NCAA Tournament Berth

The Huskers closed out its season in South Bend, Ind., when it fell to No. 29 Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on May 12.  NU’s appearance in the tournament marked its second straight berth as it also earned an at-large bid last year.

The Huskers found themselves down early in the dual match with Michigan after dropping the doubles point.  No. 34 Kara Delicata and Debra Streifler defeated senior Pamela Castillejos and sophomore Imke Reimers, 8-1, at the No. 1 spot.  Lindsey Howard and Nina Yaftali proved to be too strong for freshman Vanessa Heute and senior Ewelina Skaza, who were playing together for the first-time all season.  Heute and Skaza fell at No. 3, 8-5.

NU bounced back in singles play, however, taking matches at Nos. 2 and 3.  Reimers made quick work of Elizabeth Exon, defeating Exon in straight sets at No. 2, 6-2, 6-2.  The win marked Reimers’ 25th singles win of the season, which is a career high and ties Gitte Ostermann’s mark set in 2003-04 for fifth most season singles wins in school history.  Shortly after, senior Milena Schulz-Gartner gave the Big Red a 2-1 lead as she improved her winning streak to four matches, defeating Yaftali, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 3.

Team captain Castillejos took early control of her match by taking the first set, 6-3, at No. 5 over Chisako Sugiyama.  Sugiyama would not go down easily as she bounced back to sweep the second set, 6-0.  After exchanging points, Sugiyama handed Castillejos her second loss of the season at the No. 5 spot by topping Castillejos, 6-4, in the third set.

Freshman Kim Hartmann, who was ranked No. 97, shot out of the gates at No. 1, taking the first set, 6-4, but could not close out the match in the second set, falling 7-5, to Delicata.  The Big 12 Freshman of the Year shoed her resiliency and took the third set, 6-4.  The win gave NU a 3-2 lead and put it one point away from its first NCAA Tournament victory in school history. 

Howard and Skaza battled throughout a three-set thriller, with Howard taking the first set, 6-3, and Skaza topping Howard in the second set, 7-5.  With the match split at one match a piece, Skaza could not pull out the victory over Howard, falling 6-4, in the third set at No. 6. 

With the match score tied, 3-3, all eyes turned to the No. 4 spot where Heute and Streifler were battling in a tight match.  Heute dropped the first set, 6-3, but edged out Streifler, 7-6 (4), in the second set.  The two evenly-matched foes forced a third-set tiebreaker where Streifler snapped Heute’s 11-match unbeaten streak by winning, 7-6 (4).

The Wolverines defeated the Huskers 4-3 and ended the Big Red’s postseason run.

Hartmann Named Big 12 Freshman of the Year

After leading Nebraska to a fifth-place finish in the Big 12 regular-season standings, NU freshman Kim Hartmann was named Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year according to a vote of the league’s head coaches, the conference office announced May 1.

Hartmann is the third Husker to earn the award as the conference’s top freshman and the first Husker honoree since Lisa Hart, the current coach of WashingtonState, earned the honor in 1995.  Annie Yang also won the award for NU following the 1994 campaign.

The freshman from Germany was also named to the All-Big 12 team and is only one of two NU freshmen ever to earn the honor on the women’s side.  She is the fourth Husker to earn All-Big 12 status as 2006 marks the fourth straight year a Husker has been named to the singles squad.  Gitte Ostermann was an all-league pick from 2003-05.

Hartmann ended the year with a 23-11 record, the second-highest victories by a Husker this year, behind Reimers’ mark of 25.  Hartmann, started off the year on a strong note, posting a 7-2 fall record, including a five-match winning streak.  At the Riveria/ITA All-American Championships, she advanced to the third round of the qualifying tournament.  In the process, she defeated three ranked opponents, including then-No. 28 Anca Anastasiu of USC, No. 78 Melissa Anderson of Harvard and No. 100 Illona Somers, Ole Miss.  The win over Anastasiu marked the highest ranked player a Husker has beaten since Gitte Ostermann defeated then-No. 22 Nataly Cahana of Old Dominion in 2003.

Hartmann has appeared in six national rankings during her freshman campaign, including a No. 36 ranking in the Jan. 10 poll, the higest ranking ever for a Husker freshman.  She was 8-3 in conference play and also owned 16 wins at the No. 1 spot. 

Hartmann was also an effective doubles partner, playing mostly at the No. 2 spot with Milena Schulz-Gartner.  The duo posted 17 doubles wins, with eight conference victories, and an upset over No. 25 Anna Lubinsky and Nicki Mechem of Texas A&M on April 9. 

Women’s Tennis Excells in the Classroom; Takes Herman Award

The women’s tennis team earned the 2006 Herman Award at the Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet at the BobDevaneySportsCenter on April 23.  The Herman Award is given to the Nebraska men’s and women’s team that achives the highest team grade-point average for the academic year.  The women’s tennis team boasted a comibined GPA of 3.607 on a 4.0 scale.  The honor marked the second straight season the women’s tennis team earned the award.

The squad also had five members named to the academic All-Big 12 team.  Four Huskers earned first-team honors, inlcuding Jennifer Cremieux, Milena Schulz-Gartner, Ewelina Skaza and Imke Reimers.  Pamela Castillejos was named to the second team.

It is the third consevutive year Castillejos was named to the second team and the second-straight season for Schulz-Gartner on the first team.  Cremieux was also named to the first team in 2004.

It was Reimers’ first selection to the academic All-Big 12 team.  She was one of three players to post a perfect 4.0 GPA.

First-team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better grade point average, and second-team honorees are those who have a 3.0 to a 3.19 GPA.

All eight Husker players were named to the Big 12 Cimmissioner’s Honor Roll during the fall of 2004 and spring and fall of 2005.  The Commissioner’s Honor Roll recognizes student-athletes who post GPAs of 3.0 or higher during a semester.

“It’s a testament to how well our players perform on and off of the court,” coach Scott Jacobson said.  “I think it shows a good balance of athletics and academics.”

About the Huskers...    
4The Huskers finished the season ranked No. 43, which marks the second-highest final ranking in school history.   
4Nebraska was ranked in every team ranking throughout the season, with a season-high of No. 36.
4Freshman Kim Hartmann was ranked in six national rankings this season, with a career-high ranking of No. 36 on Jan. 10.
4Sophomore Imke Reimers earned her first-national ranking of her career on Feb. 22, when she was ranked No. 100.  Reimers appeared in four national rankings throughout the season, with a career-high ranking of No. 88.       
4The Big 12 Conference had nine teams in the final national rankings, with Baylor at No. 6 and Texas at No. 19, and Kansas closing out the conference’s ranked teams at No. 59.
4The women’s tennis team was awarded the Herman Award for the second-straight season.
4Four Huskers were named to the Academic All-Big 12 squad, with seniors Jennifer Cremieux and Milena Schulz-Gartner, and sophomore Imke Reimers earning first-team honors, while senior Pamela Castillejos was named to the second team.
4NU defeated eight ranked teams this season, more than any other team in school history.