Huskers Set to Take on Panthers and Red Raiders

Match Information
Nebraska (7-5) vs. Northern Iowa Panthers (10-2)

Date - Friday, March 23, 2007

Time - 9 a.m.
Location - Lincoln, Neb. (Nebraska Tennis Center)

Rankings - Nebraska (#75), Northern Iowa (NR)

Nebraska All-Time vs. Northern Iowa - 4-0
Last Meeting - Nebraska, 7-0 (Feb. 24, 2002)

Nebraska (7-5, 1-4) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-6, 0-3)

Date - Sunday, March 25, 2007

Time - 10 a.m.
Location - Lubbock, Texas

Rankings - Nebraska (#75), Texas Tech (#67)

Nebraska All-Time vs. Texas Tech - 10-6
Last Meeting - Nebraska, 4-0 (April 28, 2006)

 

Huskers Set to Take On Panthers and Red Raiders

The Nebraska women’s tennis team has two matches on the slate for the weekend, as it hosts the Northern Iowa Panthers on Friday and then travels to play the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Sunday.

 

The match with the Panthers was originally scheduled to be played on March 3, but was postponed to this Friday due to inclement weather. The Husker men’s tennis team has a match that day as well at the Nebraska Tennis Center at 2 p.m., which forces the women’s match to start at an earlier time than usual, at 9 a.m.

 

The Huskers will then travel to Lubbock on Sunday to take on Texas Tech. NU is looking for its second road win of the season after notching its first last week in a win over UC Riverside. Nebraska will look to improve on its 1-4 Big 12 record.

 

Scouting the Panthers

Northern Iowa head coach Sachin Kirtane and the Panthers boast an impressive 10-2 record this season, including jumping out of the gate to sweep their first five matches. The Panthers have an experienced team, with three seniors and three juniors among its eight members. Junior Meghana Paritala leads the way with a record of 10-2 at the No. 1 singles position this season, where she has played every match this season for the Panthers.

 

Sophomore Taynara Moraes has an impressive 11-1 record at the No. 4 singles position, junior Carolina Hannes owns a 9-2 record at the No. 5 position and senior Meredith Esbeck has an 8-1 record at the No. 6 position. Overall, the Panthers have a combined record of 57-15 in singles play this season and an equally impressive 30-6 record in doubles play. Friday’s match with the Huskers will be UNI’s fifth straight away from home and seventh of eight overall. The Panthers have a 3-2 record in road/neutral matches this season.

 

Scouting the Red Raiders

The No. 67 Texas Tech Red Raiders will host the Huskers on Sunday as they start a four-match stetch at home, where they are currently 6-4 on the season. The Red Raiders have struggled so far in Big 12 play, losing all three of their matches.

 

Texas Tech head coach Cari Groce is very familiar with the University of Nebraska, where she became the first UNL player to earn All-America honors. She was a four-year letterwinnner for the Huskers, from 1984-87.
Sophomore Samantha van der Drift is currently 10-2 on the year in singles play, all at the No. 1 singles position. She is currently on a five-match winning streak. Junior Janet Durham will also pose another tough test for the Huskers, as she is currently 9-4 in singles play, all at the No. 3 position.

 

NU currently owns a 10-6 all-time record against the Red Raiders, including a 4-0 victory in their latest contest in last year’s Big 12 Championships. Texas Tech is one of four Big 12 schools that Nebraska has a winning record against all-time.
Huskers Check In at No. 75 in Latest ITA Poll

The Huskers are tied for 75th place with Michigan State in the latest ITA rankings, released on March 20. The 7-5 Huskers fell seven spots from last week’s ranking despite winning 6-1 at UC Riverside last week.

 

The Huskers have hovered between No. 63 and No. 75 in seven of the eight polls since the preseason poll was released on Jan. 9, where NU was ranked No. 46. Nebraska was left out of the rankings in the March 6 poll, but has been ranked every other week. The Huskers will look to defeat their first ranked opponent of the season this weekend as they take on No. 67 Texas Tech.

 

Reimers Cracks Top 50 in Latest Rankings

Husker junior Imke Reimers is ranked No. 50 in the nation in the latest ITA poll. Reimers moved up seven spots from the No. 57 ranking she had two weeks ago after defeating two opponents by a combined score of 24-3, including a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of UC Riverside’s Erynne Oki.

 

Reimers started the season ranked No. 30, but dropped out of the next rankings. All three of her losses this season have come to players currently ranked in the top 60.

 

Strange Coincidence

The Huskers may only have to look at how one player did in her singles match to determine the ultimate outcome of the team score. Ashley Finnegan has a 7-5 singles record on the season, which is the same as the team’s overall record. In every match the Huskers have won, Finnegan has won her singles match, while in every match the Huskers have lost, Finnegan has lost her singles match.

 

Huskers Cruise Past Highlanders

The No. 68 Nebraska women’s tennis team won its first road match of the season on March 14 as it defeated the UC Riverside Highlanders, 6-1. The Huskers improved to 7-5 on the season.

 

NU got off to a quick start, sweeping the doubles matches and taking an early 1-0 lead. Nebraska’s tandem of junior Imke Reimers and freshman Diana Kuhl, playing at the No.1 doubles position, ended a five-match winning streak by UCR’s No. 1 singles duo of Erynne Oki and Donna McCullough, as the Huskers earned an 8-4 victory.

 

The Huskers didn’t slow down in singles play. Reimers, ranked No. 57 in the nation in singles, blanked UCR’s Oki at the No. 1 singles position, 6-0, 6-0. It was the first time all season that Reimers has won a match without conceding a single game to her opponent.

 

Maria Ring, playing in the No. 4 singles position, picked up her third straight win with a three-set victory over Yasaman Sakhakorn, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4.

 

Ashley Finnegan continued the Huskers’ run as she picked up a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the No. 6 spot over UCR’s Alexandra Khoury. The outcome in her singles matches have mirrored the Huskers’ overall wins and losses. Every match the Huskers have won, Finnegan has won her singles match, while every match the Huskers have lost, Finnegan has lost her singles match. The trend continued as Finnegan picked up the win at singles and the Huskers notched a victory.

 

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 148-87 (.630), counting the 7-5 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.

 

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.

? Four of the Huskers’ five losses have come to teams that are currently ranked in the top 50. Although Wichita State was not ranked at the time they defeated the Huskers, they are currently 12-1 and have a No. 21 ranking in the latest ITA poll.

? Imke Reimers has won 27 of her last 33 singles matches, including the spring 2006 and fall 2006 seasons.

? Reimers has won 19 of 26 sets she has played in this season. She has only been outscored 39-24 in the seven sets she has lost, while she has outscored her opponents 109-34 in the 17 sets she has won.

? Reimers has won 60 (133 won, 73 lost) more games than her opponents on the season.

? The Huskers have only been pushed to three sets in 12 of their 72 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.