Huskers Travel to Iowa State

Match Information
Nebraska (8-5, 1-4) vs. Iowa State Cyclones (5-5, 0-4)

Date - Saturday, March 31, 2007

Time - 3 p.m.
Location - Ames, Iowa

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

Nebraska All-Time vs. Iowa State - 31-3
Last Meeting - Nebraska, 4-0 (April 27, 2006)

Huskers Travel to Iowa State

The Nebraska women’s tennis team has only one match scheduled for this week, a Saturday match at Ames against Iowa State.

 

The Cyclones will be Nebraska’s seventh Big 12 opponent this season, where it has gone 1-4 so far this season. NU’s latest Big 12 match against Texas Tech was delayed due to inclement weather, and will be finished on April 25.

 

The meeting with the Cyclones will be the Huskers’ fourth road match in their last five matches overall, where they currently have a 1-1 record (including the tie with Texas Tech). Nebraska will have a three-match homestand starting next week, marking their final three home matches of the season.

 

Scouting the Cyclones

Iowa State head coach Michelle Conlon and the Cyclones will look to pick up their first Big 12 victory against Nebraska this weekend. The Cyclones are currently 0-4 in conference play.

 

ISU has been on a bit of a slide recently, losing three of its last four matches, a contrast to the start of the season in which the team won three of its first four matches.

 

The Cyclones are led by senior Jill Palen, who has played every singles match for Iowa State this season at the No. 1 singles position. Palen is currently 4-6 on the season. Palen’s younger sister, freshman Alyssa Palen, has a solid 5-5 record at the No. 4 singles position.

 

ISU’s match with the Huskers will be its first in a four-match homestand, all against Big 12 teams. The Cyclones have played four of their previous five matches on the road. Iowa State currently has a 3-2 home record.

 

Nebraska has dominated the all-time series with the Cyclones, winning 31 of the 34 matches played between the schools, including sweeping the Cyclones in the last four matches and winning the last 11 matches overall by a combined score of 69-11.

 

Huskers To Finish Match With Texas Tech on April 25

The Nebraska women’s tennis team will finish its match against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on April 25, in Kansas City, Mo. The teams were unable to finish their doubles matches on March 25 due to inclement weather.

 

The Big 12 office has announced that the teams will play their doubles matches in Kansas City, Mo., site of the Big 12 Championships. The teams will play on April 25 at 4 p.m., and then begin Big 12 Championship play the next day.

 

The match between the Huskers and the Red Raiders is currently at a 3-3 tie. Due to poor weather conditions in Lubbock, Texas, and pre-scheduled flight arrangements by Nebraska, the teams were unable to start the doubles matches after splitting the six singles matches. The match will not be counted toward either team’s record until the doubles matches are finished on April 25.

Huskers, Red Raiders in Temporary Stalemate at 3-3

The Nebraska women’s tennis team tied the Texas Tech Red Raiders 3-3 on March 25, in Lubbock, Texas. The match was cut short due to inclement weather and pre-scheduled flight arrangements and no winner was declared.

 

The teams started out playing the singles matches, instead of starting with the doubles matches, which is generally played first. The singles matches began outside at Texas Tech’s McLeod Tennis Center, but was ultimately moved indoors to the Lakeridge Country Club due to the poor weather.

 

The match started out with the Red Raiders quickly taking the first point of the match. At the No. 6 singles position, Tech’s Brenna Jackson defeated sophomore Ashley Finnegan 6-0 in the first set, before Finnegan retired before the second set began.

 

Husker freshman Diana Kuhl evened up the match shortly after that by defeating TTU senior Lakann Wagley at the No. 2 position, 6-2, 6-2.

 

Tech then took the next two matches, at the Nos. 4 and 5 positions, to take a 3-1 lead. But the Huskers wouldn’t go down without a fight and battled back to win two three-set matches and tie the match at 3.

 

Freshman Wiveca Swarting fell behind early in her match against Janet Durham at the No. 3 position, losing the first set 6-1. But she came back to win the next two matches, 6-1, 6-4, to give the Huskers their second point.

 

Husker junior Imke Reimers, ranked No. 50 nationally, capped off the Husker comeback by defeating TTU’s Samantha van der Drift at the No. 1 singles position, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. It was Reimers’ fifth consecutive singles victory, and improved her overall record this season to 11-3.

 

Both Swarting and Reimers’ matches were delayed due to rain. After an hour and a half delay, the two matches tried to resume but couldn’t because lightning was still in the area, forcing the two matches to be finished indoors at the Lakeridge Country Club.

 

Due to the weather delays and NU’s flight arrangements, there was not enough time to play the doubles matches. According to the Big 12 officials, the match stands at 3-3 until the two teams finish the doubles matches on April 25.

 

Huskers Retain No. 75 Rankings in Latest ITA Poll

The Huskers kept their spot at No. 75 in the latest ITA rankings, and are currently in a four-way tie for the ranking, with Troy, Cornell and Maryland.

 

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.

 

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 week’s 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.

 

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 149-87 (.631), counting the 8-5 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.

? Imke Reimers has won 29 of her last 35 singles matches, including the spring 2006 and fall 2006 seasons.

? Reimers has won 23 of 31 sets she has played in this season. She has only been outscored 45-28 in the eight sets she has lost, while she has outscored her opponents 133-45 in the 17 sets she has won.

? Reimers has won 71 (161 won, 90 lost) more games than her opponents on the season.

? The Huskers have only been pushed to three sets in 15 of their 84 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.