Huskers Face Buffaloes in Regular-Season Finale

Match Information
Nebraska (12-6, 4-5) vs. Colorado Buffaloes (14-6, 7-2)

Date - Sunday, April 22, 2007

Time - 11 a.m.
Location - Boulder, Colo.

Rankings - Nebraska (NR), Colorado (#35)

Nebraska All-Time vs. Colorado - 13-16
Last Meeting - Nebraska, 4-3 (March 12, 2006)

Huskers Face Buffaloes Regular-Season Finale
The Nebraska women’s tennis team will travel to Boulder to take on the Colorado Buffaloes on Sunday in its final regular-season match. The Huskers will then travel to Kansas City, Mo., to finish their doubles matches with Texas Tech on April 25, just before the start of the Big 12 Championships on April 26.

The Huskers finished their home schedule last week when they beat then-No. 64 Indiana State, 5-2, giving them a 9-3 home record for the season. Overall, Nebraska won four of its last five home matches.

NU will be looking to pick up its second straight victory over a ranked opponent, after winning its first against Indiana State last week. Before the match with the Sycamores, the Huskers had been 0-4 against ranked teams this season.

Nebraska has won five of its last six matches, and hopes to make it six of seven after this weekend’s match. NU has locked up its 11th straight winning season.

Scouting the Buffaloes
The No. 35 Colorado Buffaloes have a record of 14-6 on the season, and a 7-2 record in Big 12 play. Colorado has defeated seven ranked opponents this season, including No. 13 William and Mary and No. 14 Baylor. The Buffaloes have won their last four matches.

Colorado is led by sophomore Monica Milewski, who is ranked No. 35 in the latest ITA rankings, released on Tuesday, April 17. She has played all 20 matches for the Buffaloes this season, where she has a 15-5 record. She will most likely face NU’s Imke Reimers, who has a record of 15-4 on the season in singles play. Junior Gleisy Torres Torres has a 12-5 record on the year at the No. 5 singles position, and freshman Melisa Esposito has a 13-4 singles record this season, including an 11-3 mark at the No. 6 position.

The all-time series between the schools has been fairly even, with Colorado holding the slight edge, winning 16 of 29 matches. The Huskers have had the upper hand recently, winning three of the last four, including a 4-3 victory last season in Lincoln.

Huskers Beat Sycamores in Final Home Match of Season
The Nebraska women’s tennis team defeated the No. 64 Indiana State Sycamores on April 13, 5-2, in its last home match of the season at the Nebraska Tennis Center. The Huskers improved to 11-6 with the win, while the Sycamores fell to 10-8.

The Huskers started off by taking two of the three doubles matches, and for the fifth time in the last six matches, NU took the doubles point. Imke Reimers and Diana Kuhl won their sixth straight doubles match with an 8-2 win over ISU’s Kelly Hamm and Jennifer Migan. Maria Ring and Wiveca Swarting also picked up their seventh win in their last eight matches with an 8-4 victory over Ariane Masschelein and Joanne Schickerling at the No. 2 position.

The No. 1 singles position saw a showdown between two nationally ranked players, ISU’s Migan (No. 98) and NU’s Reimers (No. 52). Both players came into the day with an eight-match winning streak in singles, with Migan owning an overall singles record of 15-2 and Reimers with a record of 14-3. Migan was strong all the way through, and won the match 6-3, 6-3, snapping Reimers’ season-high winning streak.

The Huskers were strong at their other singles positions, and came through to win four of the five matches, including wins at the Nos. 5 and 6 positions. Marianne Cicmanec (No. 5) won in straight sets over ISU’s Marie Caujolle, 6-4, 6-4, giving her an eighth singles victory of the year. Ashley Finnegan (No. 6) won in three sets over Fadzai Masiyazi, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, for her 10th singles win.

"I told the team that we’ve kind of been getting carried by our 1, 2 and 3 positions in singles play, but today we got 5 and 6," head coach Scott Jacobson said after the match. "It was great for Ashley and Marianne to step up and get it done for the team today."

Freshman Wiveca Swarting defeated Galparoli, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 3 position and fellow freshman Diana Kuhl picked up her seventh straight singles victory with a 7-5, 5-5 (ret.) win over ISU’s Masschelein at the No. 2 position to round out the Husker victories on the day.

"I was real happy with our performance today," Jacobson said. "It was a total team effort."

The Sycamores are the first ranked opponent the Huskers have defeated this season.

"We’ve always felt that we’re a team that deserves to be nationally ranked," Jacobson said. The Huskers are currently unranked after spending most of the season in the top 75.

"Today, we beat a nationally ranked team, and we’d like to end the year with a national ranking. That’s been one of our goals this season, and it helps to beat a team that’s already there."

Huskers Defeat Injury-Plagued Wildcats
The Nebraska women’s tennis team won its sixth match in seven tries with a 5-2 victory over Kansas State, who was forced to compete with only five players due to injuries. The Huskers improved to 12-6 with the win, including 4-5 in Big 12 play.

The Wildcats had two of their seven players sit out with injuries for the match, forcing them to forfeit the No. 3 doubles point and also the No. 6 singles point. As a result the No. 3 doubles tandem of Marianne Cicmanec and Ashley Finnegan got the win by default, and Finnegan, playing in the No. 6 singles position, also won her singles match by default. The Wildcats could never quite dig themselves out of the early hole.

The Huskers took care of business in the Nos. 1 and 2 doubles spots. Imke Reimers and Diana Kuhl outlasted Viviana Yrureta and Katerina Kudlackova, 9-7 for their seventh straight doubles victory at the No. 1 position, and Maria Ring and Wiveca Swarting beat Tamar Kvaratskhelia and Natasha Vieira, 8-6. Even without the default win at the No. 3 doubles position, the Huskers still would have won the doubles point.

In singles play, Reimers bounced back from her first loss in her last nine matches on Friday, as she took care of Yrureta, 6-2, 6-1. Reimers improved her singles record to 15-4.

At the No. 2 singles position, Kuhl saw her seven-match winning streak snapped as she lost to KSU’s Kvaratskhelia, 7-5, 6-2. Kuhl moved to 12-7 on the year in singles play, and to 6-4 in Big 12 play.

Swarting won her match in straight sets at the No. 3 position over Kudlackova, 6-3, 6-2. It was the freshman’s sixth victory in her last seven matches, and Cicmanec won her second straight match at the No. 5 position, beating Tereza Prochazkova, 7-5, 6-2.

The No. 4 singles position was the last to be finished on the day, and was tight all the way through. NU’s Ring and KSU’s Vieira split the first two sets, and because the team results had already been decided, the two played a third set super-tiebreaker, which Vieira won. The final tally was 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 1-0 (10-5).

Notable Streaks
Several Huskers currently have significant stretches of strong play, including:

? Imke Reimers has won nine of her last 10 singles matches.
? Diana Kuhl has won seven of her last eight and nine of her last 11 singles matches.
? Wiveca Swarting has won six of her last seven singles matches.
? Imke Reimers and Diana Kuhl have teamed up to win seven consecutive doubles matches, all at the No. 1 position, and nine of their last 10 overall.
? Maria Ring and Wiveca Swarting have won eight of their last nine doubles matches, all at the No. 2 position.

Reimers No. 58 in Latest Rankings
Husker junior Imke Reimers is ranked No. 58 in the nation in the latest ITA singles rankings, released April 17, down six spots from her No. 52 spot two weeks ago. Reimers has won nine of her last 10 matches, but saw her eight-match winning streak snapped last weekend by Indiana State’s Jennifer Migan, who is at No. 82 in the rankings.

Reimers is 15-4 on the season, playing at the No. 1 singles position in every match this season for the Huskers. Her highest ranking came at the beginning of the year, where she was ranked No. 30 in the preseason poll, and she has hovered between No. 50 and No. 58 since.

Reimers Named Big 12 Player of the Week
Junior Imke Reimers was honored on April 9 as the Big 12 Player of the Week for her efforts between April 2-8. Reimers won her seventh and eighth straight singles matches and her sixth straight doubles match in matches against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

On Saturday, Reimers played a key role in Nebraska’s narrow 4-3 victory over Oklahoma. She teamed with Diana Kuhl to win her doubles match over OU’s Gabby Baker and Irina Lykina, 8-6, giving the Husker duo its fourth straight doubles victory. That win, along with Reimers’ 6-4, 6-1 win over Baker in No. 1 singles, helped the Huskers secure their fourth straight dual victory.

The next day, Reimers again did her part to help the Huskers, but they ultimately fell short and lost to the Oklahoma State Cowgirls, 5-2. Reimers and Kuhl again took their doubles match at the No. 1 postion against OSU’s Yawna Allen and Nataliya Shatkovskaya, 8-4. She kept it rolling in singles play as well, picking up her eighth straight singles victory by making quick work of OSU’s Iryna Tkachenko, 6-2, 6-0.

Reimers is believed to be the first Husker in the Big 12 era to earn the league’s weekly award.

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. 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.

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 153-88 (.635), counting the 12-6 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 Indiana State and Kansas State, the Huskers locked up their 11th consecutive winning season.
? 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.
? Five of the Huskers’ six losses have come to teams that are currently ranked in the top 75.
? Imke Reimers has won 33 of her last 40 singles matches, including the spring 2006 and fall 2006 seasons.
? Reimers has won 31 of 41 sets she has played in this season. She has only been outscored by 23 (34-57) in the 10 sets she has lost, while she has outscored her opponents by 125 (182-57) in the 27 sets she has won.
? Reimers has won 102 (216 won, 114 lost) more games than her opponents on the season.
? The Huskers have only been pushed to three sets in 22 of their 114 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.