Youthful Huskers Finish Successful Season

The 2006-07 Husker women’s tennis squad was full of unfamiliar faces as it began the season. Junior Imke Reimers was the only returning letterwinner from the 2005-06 team that earned its second straight NCAA tournament berth, a feat that had been unmatched in NU history. Four newcomers and two transfers joined Reimers to make up the team, and the 2006-07 team had no seniors, a first for the program since the 1998-99 season. Reimers was immediately seen as the team leader, as she was the only one with experience at the Big 12 level. She didn’t disappoint, guiding the Huskers to a solid 13-9 record, and helping them advance to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championships for the third time in four years.

The Huskers started the fall season at the nine-team Minnesota Invitational, where Reimers picked up where she left off from the previous season, when she earned a 25-9 record and won seven of her last eight matches. She continued her success as she earned the singles championship at the tournament. Her semifinal match against Wichita State’s Florentina Hanisch was a 4-6, 6-4, 13-11 comeback marathon which sent her to the championship match against Iowa’s Jacqueline Lee. Reimers beat Lee in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 6-3, to capture the title.

Reimers captured another singles title at the ITA Central Regional Championships after beating Arkansas’ Maryori Franco, 6-1, 6-2. She continued her impressive fall run with a victory over the third-ranked player in the nation, Stanford’s Theresa Logar, in a three-set thriller, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Logar is believed to be the highest-ranked opponent that any NU player has beat in the program’s history. Reimers ended the fall season with an 11-3 record, and proved to the team that she was ready and able to take the lead role for the young Husker team as it headed into the spring season.

The 2006-07 season marked the first time the Husker tennis team could play in the brand new Nebraska Tennis Center. The $3 million complex is one of the finest in the country and holds six climate-controlled indoor courts as well as 12 outdoor courts.

Nebraska’s first six matches of the season were scheduled to be played in Lincoln in the new NTC, including the opener against in-state rival Creighton. The Huskers cruised to a 7-0 sweep, winning all six singles and all three doubles matches, and improved their all-time record against the Bluejays to an astounding 21-0.

Nebraska head coach Scott Jacobson entered the season with 198 career wins, giving him a chance to achieve 200 early in the season. Jacobson, who is the longest-serving and winningest coach in NU history, achieved the milestone in the Huskers’ second match, at home against Wyoming, with a 6-1 victory.

The Huskers finished up their six-match homestand with a 5-1 record, losing only to Wichita State, which would finish the season with a 27-3 overall record with a No. 31 final ITA ranking.

NU’s first road matches of the season proved to be tough, as they came against No. 21 Texas and No. 27 Texas A&M, on consecutive days. The Huskers lost both matches 7-0, but gained much-needed experience for the rest of the season. Nebraska returned home after its two-match road trip to face Baylor, which came in ranked No. 14 and defending 2006 Big 12 champions. The Huskers lost, 1-6, but took one of the singles matches and one of the doubles matches, while playing as well as they had as a team to that point in the season.

With the three toughest Big 12 opponents behind them, the Huskers looked to improve on their 5-4 record. The Huskers rebounded by winning five of their next six matches, including two consecutive home sweeps over Saint Louis and Northern Iowa, and a thrilling 4-3 victory over Big 12 foe Oklahoma that wasn’t decided until the final set. With the match tied 3-3, freshman Wiveca Swarting found herself in a 3-0 hole, and then down 4-1 in the third and deciding set of The 2006-07 Husker women’s tennis squad was full of unfamiliar faces as it began the season. Junior Imke Reimers was the only returning letterwinner from the 2005-06 team that earned its second straight NCAA tournament berth, a feat that had been unmatched in NU history. Four newcomers and two transfers joined Reimers to make up the team, and the 2006-07 team had no seniors, a first for the program since the 1998-99 season.

Reimers was immediately seen as the team leader, as she was the only one with experience at the Big 12 level. She didn’t disappoint, guiding the Huskers to a solid 13-9 record, and helping them advance to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championships for the third time in four years.

The Huskers started the fall season at the nine-team Minnesota Invitational, where Reimers picked up where she left off from the previous season, when she earned a 25-9 record and won seven of her last eight matches. She continued her success as she earned the singles championship at the tournament. Her semifinal match against Wichita State’s Florentina Hanisch was a 4-6, 6-4, 13-11 comeback marathon which sent her to the championship match against Iowa’s Jacqueline Lee. Reimers beat Lee in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 6-3, to capture the title.

Reimers captured another singles title at the ITA Central Regional Championships after beating Arkansas’ Maryori Franco, 6-1, 6-2. She continued her impressive fall run with a victory over the third-ranked player in the nation, Stanford’s Theresa Logar, in a three-set thriller, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Logar is believed to be the highest-ranked opponent that any NU player has beat in the program’s history. Reimers ended the fall season with an 11-3 record, and proved to the team that she was ready and able to take the lead role for the young Husker team as it headed into the spring season.

The 2006-07 season marked the first time the Husker tennis team could play in the brand new Nebraska Tennis Center. The $3 million complex is one of the finest in the country and holds six climate-controlled indoor courts as well as 12 outdoor courts.

Nebraska’s first six matches of the season were scheduled to be played in Lincoln in the new NTC, including the opener against in-state rival Creighton. The Huskers cruised to a 7-0 sweep, winning all six singles and all three doubles matches, and improved their all-time record against the Bluejays to an astounding 21-0.

Nebraska head coach Scott Jacobson entered the season with 198 career wins, giving him a chance to achieve 200 early in the season. Jacobson, who is the longest-serving and winningest coach in NU history, achieved the milestone in the Huskers’ second match, at home against Wyoming, with a 6-1 victory.

The Huskers finished up their six-match homestand with a 5-1 record, losing only to Wichita State, which would finish the season with a 27-3 overall record with a No. 31 final ITA ranking.

NU’s first road matches of the season proved to be tough, as they came against No. 21 Texas and No. 27 Texas A&M, on consecutive days. The Huskers lost both matches 7-0, but gained much-needed experience for the rest of the season. Nebraska returned home after its two-match road trip to face Baylor, which came in ranked No. 14 and defending 2006 Big 12 champions. The Huskers lost, 1-6, but took one of the singles matches and one of the doubles matches, while playing as well as they had as a team to that point in the season.

With the three toughest Big 12 opponents behind them, the Huskers looked to improve on their 5-4 record. The Huskers rebounded by winning five of their next six matches, including two consecutive home sweeps over Saint Louis and Northern Iowa, and a thrilling 4-3 victory over Big 12 foe Oklahoma that wasn’t decided until the final set. With the match tied 3-3, freshman Wiveca Swarting found herself in a 3-0 hole, and then down 4-1 in the third and deciding set of her singles match. But Swarting rallied back to win five straight games and take the match, giving the Huskers the victory in the process. The Huskers lost their match the next day to Oklahoma State but the following week Reimers was named Big 12 Player of the Week for her efforts from that weekend.

Nebraska’s final home match saw the team defeat its only ranked opponent of the season, as it beat then-No. 64 Indiana State 5-2. NU finished with a 9-3 home record, just missing posting double-digit home victories for the fourth straight season.

The Huskers rolled into the Big 12 Championships in Kansas City, Mo., with a 12-7 record, and needing to finish one match. Their March 25 match with Texas Tech in Lubbock was delayed due to inclement weather, after the teams split the six singles matches, 3-3, leaving them unable to finish the doubles matches. That forced the teams to conclude the match in Kansas City on the day before the Big 12 Championships were set to start. The Huskers ultimately lost the doubles point to the Red Raiders, giving NU the No. 8 seed going into the tournament.

NU was looking to duplicate the success they had the previous year when the team reached the semifinals of the Big 12 Championships for the first time in school history. They started off well, sweeping No. 9-seed Missouri, 4-0, setting up a match with No. 1-seed Baylor the next day. Unfortunately, the Huskers couldn’t handle the Bears and were defeated 4-0, and Baylor went on to win the Big 12 Championships for the second straight season.

Nebraska finished the season with a 13-9 record, good for their 11th straight winning season. but the season wasn’t quite over for Reimers. She earned a spot as one of 45 at-large bids to the NCAA Singles Championships in Athens, Ga., becoming just the third Husker to ever achieve the feat. She joined Sandra Noetzel in 1999 and Gitte Ostermann in 2005 in the elite group.

At the Championships Reimers faced Miami’s Audrey Banada in a first-round match. The first set went back and forth, but Banada pulled away in the end for a 7-5 victory. Reimers couldn’t get back on track after that, and lost the second set, 6-0. Despite the loss, Reimers finished the season with 28 singles wins, good for second on the NU single-season list, while adding 48 combined singles and doubles wins, to tie for fourth on the all-time list.

Three Huskers received several postseason accolades and awards at the end of the season. Reimers was named to the academic All-Big 12 first team for the second straight year, and was also named to the All-Big 12 singles team. Reimers was joined by partner freshman Diana Kuhl as they were named to the All-Big 12 doubles team, while assistant coach Hayden Perez was honored as the ITA Central Region’s top assistant coach.

Overall, the youthful Huskers enjoyed a successful season, winning 13 matches and advancing past the first round in the Big 12 Championships. Nebraska hopes to build on the experience for the 2007-08 season as every member of the 2007 squad is capable of returning, this time with experience on their side.