Huskers Return Home With Three Matches in Three Days

Match Information
Nebraska (5-3) vs. Baylor Bears (5-4)

Date - Friday, March 2, 2007

Time - 4 p.m.
Location - Lincoln, Neb. (Nebraska Tennis Center)
Nebraska All-Time vs. Baylor - 1-10
Last Meeting - Baylor, 6-1 (March 4, 2006)

 

Nebraska (5-3) vs. Northern Iowa Panthers (6-0)
Date - Saturday, March 3, 2007

Time - 10:30 a.m.
Location - Lincoln, Neb. (Nebraska Tennis Center)

Nebraska All-Time vs. Northern Iowa - 4-0

Last Meeting - Nebraska, 7-0 (Feb. 24, 2002)

 

Nebraska (5-3) vs. Saint Louis Billikens (4-6)
Date - Sunday, March 4, 2007
Time - 10:30 a.m.
Location - Lincoln, Neb. (Nebraska Tennis Center)
Nebraska All-Time vs. Saint Louis - 3-0
Last Meeting - Nebraska, 7-0 (March 28, 2004)

 

►Huskers Return Home With Three Matches in Three Days

The Nebraska women’s tennis team returns to Lincoln this weekend for three matches in three days after playing its first road matches last week. Nebraska hasn’t played at its home court in the Nebraska Tennis Center for nearly three weeks.

 

Nebraska will be looking to pick up momentum at home after stumbling on the road last week. The Huskers lost to a pair of top-30 ranked opponents last week, at then-No. 21 Texas and at then-No. 27 Texas A&M.

 

Nebraska will play its first match on Friday against No. 14 Baylor, marking the third straight ranked opponent the Huskers will face this season.

 

The Huskers also have a pair of non-conference games on the schedule for this weekend, as they take on undefeated Northern Iowa on Saturday and Saint Louis on Sunday.

 

The three-match homestand will be NU’s last matches in Lincoln until April 7, when it begins another three-match homestand, starting with Oklahoma. Until then, the Huskers have four consecutive road matches from March 10 to March 31.

 

►Scouting the Bears

The Bears are finishing a tough stretch to start the season when they travel to Lincoln on March 2. Baylor’s match against the Huskers will be its 10th straight against a ranked opponent. The Bears have a 5-4 record on the season, with losses to No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Northwesern, No. 9 Miami and No. 12 Georgia. Notable wins for the Bears include at No. 26 TCU and against No. 32 BYU. The Bears are currently riding a three-match winning streak.

 

The Bears have used a different lineup in each of their nine matches this season, a tribute to their great depth. They have used three different players at the No. 1 singles position, where they have compiled a 5-4 record.

 

Despite the variety of lineups, Baylor has primarily relied on junior Zuzana Zemenova. She has only appeared in five matches this season, all at the No. 1 singles position, where she has a 3-2 record. Zemenova also owns a No. 33 singles ranking in the latest ITA polls.

 

Head coach Joey Scrivano is in his fifth year as head coach at Baylor, where he has compiled an 81-38 (.680) record. Scrivano led the Bears to a 28-4 record last season, including an 11-0 Big 12 record, en route to a final national ranking of No. 6.

 

►Scouting the Panthers

Northern Iowa boasts an impressive 6-0 record on the season, including five straight sweeps to open the season. The Panthers trail only Wichita State in winning percentage in the Missouri Valley Conference.

 

The Panthers are a perfect 18-0 in doubles matches this season, and were a perfect 30-0 in singles before winning a tight match over Eastern Illinois where they took three of the six singles matches. Right now, the Panthers are 33-3 in singles matches.

 

UNI’s trip to Lincoln will be its first road match of the season, and will begin a four-match road trip for the Panthers. Overall, Northern Iowa will play seven of its next eight matches on the road after opening the season with six straight home matches.

 

The Huskers will face four Panthers who have yet to lose this season. Freshman Sampada Kanade, playing primarily at the No. 3 position, and sophomore Tanyara Moraes, playing primarily at the No. 4 postion, are each 6-0. Senior Meredith Esbeck is 5-0 and junior Samantha Schnobel is 2-0.

 

Head coach Sachin Kirtane is in his fifth season at UNI, and is already ranked third in career winning percentage at the school with a 49-34 (.590) record.

 

►Scouting the Billikens

Saint Louis head coach Jonathan Zych will lead his team to Lincoln on Sunday for its first road match in nearly a month. The 4-6 Billikens are in the middle of a six-game homestand, where they currently sit at 2-2. Saint Louis will play two matches on March 2, against Illinois State and Illinois-Springfield before heading to Lincoln on March 4.

 

SLU’s match against Nebraska will be the first of 11 straight road matches, which include trips to Florida and Ohio. The Billikens won’t return to St. Louis to play a match until April 12.

Senior Katerina Lozanova has a 5-4 record at the No. 1 singles position. The Billikens only have seven players on their roster, including two seniors.

 

►Huskers Settle in at No. 65 in Latest Rankings

Nebraska gained a spot in the latest ITA rankings despite losing a pair of matches on the road last week to Texas and Texas A&M.

 

Texas moved up to No. 19 and Texas A&M is No. 23 in the new polls. Wichita State, the other team to defeat the Huskers this season, is at No. 46.

 

NU’s next opponent is Baylor, who is the highest ranked team in the Big 12 at No. 13.

 

The Huskers have hovered between Nos. 63 and 66 for the past 5 weeks after starting the season ranked No. 46.

 

►Huskers Swept at Texas

Returning to play after a 13-day break from competition, the No. 66 Nebraska women’s tennis team was unable to regain momentum after getting off to a slow start and was swept by No. 21 Texas, 7-0, on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Huskers fell behind early against the Longhorns, losing the doubles point 3-0. With the most competitive doubles match at the No. 2 spot, the Nebraska pair of Maria Ring and Wiveca Swarting competed closely against Texas’ Sarah Lancaster and Courtney Zauft, but were defeated, 8-4.

 

Trailing the Longhorns by one entering the singles competition, the Huskers fell in straight sets at the Nos. 1 through 6 spots.

 

Junior Imke Reimers put up the best battle for the Huskers at No. 1 singles. In the first set, Reimers went ahead against Texas’ No. 87-ranked Vanja Corovic, but Corovic bounced back to win the set, 7-5. As the match continued, Reimer’s struggled to keep pace with Corovic and was defeated in the second set, 6-2, to lose the match. Despite compiling an impressive 6-1 record this season, Reimers recently dropped out of the top 100 of the national rankings in which she was previously ranked No. 30.

 

►Huskers Fall to Aggies

Playing a ranked team for the second day in a row on the road, the No. 66 Nebraska women’s tennis team lost to No. 27 Texas A&M, 7-0. The Huskers fell to 5-3 on the season, and 1-2 in the Big 12, while the Aggies notched their 10th win of the season, and moved to 3-0 in Big 12 play.

 

The Huskers lost all three doubles matches to drop the doubles point. Junior Imke Reimers and freshman Diana Kuhl lost a tight match to Tiffany Clifford and Sarah Foster of A&M. The match was tied at 7 and was forced into a tiebreaker, which the Aggies ultimately won.

 

In singles, both Reimers and Kuhl put up a good fight in the Nos. 1 and 2 positions. Reimers lost to Anna Lubinsky, ranked No. 65 in the nation, 7-5, 6-4, only Reimers’ second of the season in singles play. Kuhl, facing 36th-ranked Elze Potgieter at the No. 2 position, gave Potgieter all she could handle in the first two sets, but in the end couldn’t put her away, losing 6-4, 7-5.

 

►Eight Huskers Named to Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll

The Nebraska women’s tennis team placed eight current and former team members on the 2006 Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall Honor Roll. Honor Roll status is awarded to student-athletes who achieve at least a 3.0 grade-point average during the semester.

Junior Imke Reimers earned a 4.0 GPA, making her one of 33 Husker student-athletes to post a perfect GPA. Reimers has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll in all five of her semesters at Nebraska. She was also a first-team academic All-Big 12 selection in 2006.

 

Pamela Castillejos, who earned her degree in December and finished her tennis career at Nebraska in 2006, was named to her third Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, while Ewelina Skaza, also a senior from last year’s team, was named to her fourth. Skaza, along with Reimers, was a first-team academic All-Big 12 selection in 2006.

 

Five other current team members were honored along with Reimers. Freshmen Diana Kuhl and Wiveca Swarting, sophomores Ashley Finnegan and Maria Ring and junior Maria Popova were also named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Nebraska had a total of 270 honorees across 23 sports, including 33 who had a 4.0 GPA.

 

►Jacobson Earns 200th Career Victory

Nebraska head coach Scott Jacobson earned his 200th career victory on Friday, Jan. 26, as his team beat Wyoming 6-1.

 

"It’s just like any other win," Jacobson said. "I’m proud of our team and the way they persevered out there and came through in some pressure situations." Jacobson also celebrated his birthday on the same day.

 

After going 37-59 (.385) in his first five seasons as head coach, starting with the 1991-92 season, Jacobson has since gone 146-85 (.632), counting the 5-3 start to this season. He has led the Huskers to 10 straight winning seasons dating back to 1996-97. Before becoming head coach of the women’s team, Jacobson was an assistant on the NU men’s team from 1979 to 1989. Jacobson is the winningest and longest-serving women’s tennis coach in Husker history.

 

►Reimers Ranked No. 1 In Central Region

In addition to her national honors, Imke Reimers is ranked No. 1 in the Central Region in the latest ITA rankings, released Dec. 8, 2006. The teams around the nation are split into eight regions. Several Big 12 teams are counted in the Central Region, including Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Husker freshman Diana Kuhl is ranked No. 26 on the list as well.

 

►Net Notes

? After beating Colorado State, the Huskers improved to 4-1, marking the 10th straight season they have won at least four of their first five matches.

? Imke Reimers has won 24 of her last 30 singles matches, including the spring 2006 and fall 2006 seasons.

? Reimers has won 12 of 17 sets she has played in this season. She has only been outscored 32-20 in the five sets she has lost, while she has outscored her opponents 67-19 in the 12 sets she has won. Overall, Reimers has won 36 more games than her opponents on the season.

? The Huskers have only been pushed to three sets in five of their 48 singles matches this season.

? The 2006-07 Husker team lists no seniors, a first for the program since the 1998-99 season.

? Junior Imke Reimers is the squad’s only returning letterwinner.