Husker Junior Travels to California for Riviera All-American Championships

Junior Imke Reimers of the Nebraska women’s tennis team is travelling to Los Angeles, Calif., to compete in the Riviera All-American Championships, which runs from Sept. 30 through Oct. 8.  Reimers will be the only Husker to make the trip.

Reimers, who is ranked No. 106 nationally, is coming off four straight victories after taking the Maroon Singles Flight at the Minnesota Invitational.  Reimers defeated Missouri’s Amanda Pratzel, who played at the No. 6 slot for the Tigers, and Jacqueline Lee of Iowa, who played No. 4 for UI. 

Reimers is competing in the Prequalifying Tournament at the Riviera All-American Championships for the third time in her career and owns a 4-2 career record in the tournament. 

As a freshman, she recorded her first career victory as a Husker as she defeated Orsoly Sallai of WashingtonState, 6-2, 6-2, but fell one victory short of advancing to the Qualifying Tournament.  She mirrored those results as a sophomore, as she fell in the third round of the Prequalifying Tournament.

Reimers needs three victories in the Prequalifying Tournament to advance to the Qualifying Tournament which begins Oct. 3 in Los Angeles.

Huskers Fair Well in First Action of the Fall at the Minnesota Invitational

Nebraska sent six players to compete in the Minnesota Invitational, which included nine teams. 

Reimers entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and took three out of four matches in straight sets.  WichitaState’s Florentina Hanisch tested Reimers, taking the first set before Reimers forced a superbreaker, winning the set 4-6, 6-4, 13-11.

Reimers then snapped No. 4 seed Lee’s run of three straight wins, which included upsetting the No. 1 seed Milia Veselinovic of Iowa.  Reimers defeated Lee, 7-6 (4), 6-3, to take the Flight.

Four newcomers freshmen Diana Kuhl and Wiveca Swarting and sophomores Maria Ring and Marianne Cicmanec, recorded their first career singles victories as Huskers.  In the first round of the Gold Singles Flight, Ring dominated Missouri’s Charlotte Bellis, 6-2, 6-0 before falling to Cori Lefkowitz of Boston University.  Ring rebounded and took two straight victories, including defeating Iowa’s Kayla Berry, to finish seventh in the Gold Singles Flight.

Cicmanec fell in her first three matches as a Husker in the Gold Singles Flight before defeating Lauren Wilson of Air Force in the consolation bracket. 

Kuhl and Swarting found success in the consolation brackets of the Maroon Singles Flight.  Kuhl was given a tough draw, facing No. 1 seed Veselinovic of Iowa.  After falling to Veselinovic and later to WichitaState’s Anna Egorova, Kuhl defeated MU’s Josbena but fell to Pratzel in a match for sixth place in the flight.  Swarting, after losing her first three matches, defeated Pratzel to finish eighth place in the flight.

Reimers and Ring proved they will be a powerful doubles combination as they took four  straight matches to take the North Doubles Flight Consolation Championship, while Kuhl and Swarting also advanced in the North Doubles Flight.  After falling in their first two matches, the freshmen advanced to the finals of the sixth place consolation bracket.  Their finals match was not played due to time constraints.

Finnegan and Cicmanec closed out the Huskers’ participation in the tournament.  The duo produced two victories to advance to the quarterfinals of the Star Doubles Flight winners bracket, before falling to Danielle Mousseau and Mariana Spilca of Minnesota, 8-3.  Cicmanec and Finnegan fell to Wichita State Torrie Browning and Jackie Richey, 8-4,1 in a match to decide third place in the tournament.                                 

Husker History in Riviera All-American Championships

Since 2000, Nebraska owns a combined 29-18 record at the Riviera All-American Championships.  Huskers have used the tournament to catapult themselves to great individual seasons. 

In 2003, Gitte Ostermann began her breakout season by winning three straight matches in the Prequalifying Tournament to enter the Qualifying Tournament before pulling off four consecutive victories to win the Championships’ Consolation Tournament.  During her run, she defeated four ranked opponents.  Ostermann finished her junior year with 25 wins to rank fifth on NU’s all-time season single wins chart, and later finished her career tied for fourth on NU’s career combined wins chart.

Last season, Kim Hartmann won her first five matches and advanced to the third round of the Qualifying Tournament.  She defeated three ranked opponents, including then-No. 28 Anca Anastasiu of USC.  Hartmann played the entire season at No. 1 and was named the Big 12’s Freshman of the Year.

Reimers, the most experienced of NU’s players, hopes she can have similar success with a strong showing in the tournament this season.

Huskers Building Off Historic 2005-06 Season

The Huskers are coming off of back-to-back seasons with at least 17 wins and an at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament.  In 2006, the Huskers finished with a No. 43 national ranking and eight wins over ranked teams, the most in school history.  The senior class led NU to a 17-10 record and an all-time best 21 conference victories over a four-year stretch.  Kim Hartmann was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year.  She was the third Husker to earn the award as the conference’s top freshman in the last 12 years. 

The Big Red was also recognized for its academic success, including garnering the Herman Award, which is awarded to the NU men’s and women’s team that achieves the highest team grade-point average for the academic year.  The women’s tennis team boasted an athletic department high 3.607 GPA on a 4.0 scale.              

Imke Reimers Looks to Build Off Breakout Sophomore Season

Jacobson dubbed junior Imke Reimers, Nebraska’s only returning player, one of the most talented true freshman he has ever recruited, and she has lived up to the billing as one of NU’s top players.  As a freshman in 2004-05, she played primarily at the No. 2 slot in the lineup, posting 16 singles wins and 17 doubles wins with Milena Schulz-Gartner, which ranks fifth on NU’s single season doubles win chart.

She got off to a shaky start in the fall of her sophomore season last year before she went on a four-match winning streak to end the fall season, taking the ITA Central Regional Consolation Championship. She began the spring at No. 3, but after surrendering only one game in three matches, she moved up to No. 2 where she flourished throughout the season.  On Feb. 11, her first match at No. 2, Reimers upset then-No. 38 Ela Kaluder of Arkansas in straight sets to mark Reimers’ first career victory over a ranked opponent.  The win propelled Reimers into the national rankings for the first time in her career, earning a No. 100 ranking.

Reimers continued to cruise, taking three matches in three days, including defeating then-No. 120 Katy Williams of Long BeachState.  The wins moved Reimers up to No. 88, which proved to be her highest ranking of the season.  She finished the season strongly by taking seven of her last eight completed matches, including a win over Elizabeth Exon of Michigan in the NCAA Tournament.  Reimers’ 25 wins tied Gitte Ostermann for fifth all-time on NU’s singles season win chart.

Big Red Welcomes Six Newcomers to the Squad

After losing seven players, the Huskers welcome six new faces, including freshman Wiveca Swarting, sophomores Marianne Cicmanec, Ashley Finnegan and Maria Ring and junior Maria Popova for the 2006-07 season.  Not all of the newcomers are without college experience as Ring, played with WashingtonState in 2005-06 and Finnegan with the College of Charleston 2005-06.

Ring posted 16 singles wins with the Cougars, playing anywhere from No. 3 to No. 6.  She has a history of starting the season fast, winning seven of 10 matches to start her career.  Ring also took 16 doubles wins, playing mostly at the No. 1 slot, including upsetting then-No. 4 Kady Pooler and Roxanne Clarke of ArizonaState.

At CoC, Finnegan posted 11 singles wins, going 5-1 at No. 3, as well as 12 doubles wins, with nine coming at the No. 2 doubles slot.  She helped the Cougars to a 12-11 overall record and finished third in the Southern Conference, advancing to the semifinals of the conference Championships.