Huskers Sweep Billikens

Lincoln - The No. 65 Nebraska women's tennis team defeated the Saint Louis Billikens 7-0 at the Nebraska Tennis Center on Sunday. The Huskers improved to 6-4 with the win, while Saint Louis dropped to 5-8.

 

The Huskers began the day by sweeping the doubles matches, highlighted by Imke Reimers and Diana Kuhl’s victory over SLU’s Katerina Lozonova and Tara Grant, 8-2, in the No. 1 position.

 

“I thought we came out with great energy in the doubles,” NU head coach Scott Jacobson said. “We got off to a great start, and took some big leads right off the bat. We hadn’t gotten off to those quick starts in the few previous matches, so that was probably one of the highlights of the day.”

 

The Huskers showed no sign of slowing in the singles matches. Kuhl (No. 2) and Ashley Finnegan (No. 6) both won their matches with scores of 6-0, 6-1, and Wiveca Swarting (No. 3) won her match 6-1, 6-2.

 

Nebraska was pushed to three sets in two of its matches against the Billikens, in the Nos. 4 and 5 spots. But the Huskers held on to win both matches, and coupled with Reimers 6-4, 6-4, win over Lozonova, the Huskers completed the sweep.

 

“Overall, it was a really good day for us,” Jacobson said. “We had some situations where I thought our intensity level was really, really high.”

 

Although this was supposed to be NU’s third match in three days, Saturday’s match against Northern Iowa was postponed due to inclement weather. Jacobson said the postponement may have been a blessing in disguise for a Husker team that had suffered some bumps and bruises in recent weeks.

 

“In hindsight, it was probably a good thing for our team not to be competing three days in a row,” Jacobson said. “Out of our six healthy players, probably four of them have some type of injury or aggravation. And obviously you need six players to make a team.”

 

The Huskers will hit the courts next in Lawrence, Kan., for a Big 12 matchup against Kansas on March 10, for the start of a four-match road trip. The Huskers' next home match is April 7, against Oklahoma. Nebraska and Northern Iowa have not announced a make-up date for their match yet.

 

No. 65 Nebraska 7, Saint Louis 0

Doubles

Imke Reimers/Diana Kuhl (NU) def. Katerina Lozonova/Tara Grant(SLU), 8-2

Maria Ring/Wiveca Swarting (NU) def. Ana Renda/Jo Becker(SLU), 8-3

Marianne Cicmanec/Ashley Finnegan (NU) def. Caitlin Bokulic/Rachel McCullagh(SLU), 8-5

 

Singles

Imke Reimers (NU) def. Katerina Lozonova (SLU), 6-4, 6-4

Diana Kuhl (NU) def. Ana Renda (SLU), 6-0, 6-1

Wiveca Swarting (NU) def. Tara Grant (SLU), 6-1, 6-2

Maria Ring (NU) def. Rachel McCullagh (SLU), 6-1, 2-6, 6-4

Marianne Cicmanec (NU) def. Jo Becker(SLU), 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)

Ashley Finnegan (NU) def. Caitlin Bokulic(SLU), 6-0, 6-1