Wildcats Upend Huskers at Big 12 Championships

College Station, Texas - The Nebraska women's tennis team lost a close 4-3 match to Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Championships in College Station, Texas, on Thursday afternoon. The Huskers bowed out of the Big 12 tournament for the first time in three years and end the season with a 16-7 record, with their final three losses all coming as 4-3 heart breakers.

Nebraska started off on the wrong foot as they dropped the doubles point. Big 12 No. 1 doubles champions Imke Reimers and Jana Albers lost to KSU's Olga Klimova and Katerina Kudlackova, 8-5, while the Wildcats also earned a victory at No. 3 doubles. No. 2 doubles wasn't completed as the point had already been decided and the two teams moved on into singles play.

The Huskers felt like they could bounce back in singles play, as they dropped the doubles point last weekend against Kansas State but then went on to win all six singles matches to win the match 6-1 in Lincoln. Singles play started out in the same fashion, as Albers at No. 3 and Ashley Finnegan at No. 6 earned straight-set victories over their Wildcat opponents to help the Huskers to a 2-1 lead. Kansas State tied it back up with a win at No. 2 singles, but Amber Chandronnait put the Huskers on the brink of victory with a win at No. 5 singles, giving Nebraska a 3-2 lead and one point away from clinching the match.

Kansas State's Vanessa Cottin made it a 3-3 tie after winning in three sets over NU's Stephanie Evans at No. 4 singles, leaving the match in the hands of Viviana Yrureta of Kansas State and Husker senior Imke Reimers at No. 1 singles. The players had just begun a third-set tiebreaker when Cottin won her match at No. 4 singles, setting up what would be a thrilling back-and-forth tiebreaker to decide the match.

Neither player could gain an advantage early on, and after a long battle KSU's Yrureta won the tiebreaker 12-10, taking the match and giving the Wildcats the first-round victory.

“It was actually an exceptional dual,” said NU Head Coach Scott Jacobson. “We knew that this was going to be a real close dual. We played Kansas State just last week on our home court, and it is a little different when you're playing at home versus a neutral site. We knew from the results that they are a very gifted and talented team. We tried our hearts out but came up just a little bit short today.”

The loss may have been the last match in the illustrious career of NU's Reimers, who will wait for word on whether the Huskers will make it as an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament or whether Reimers will be invited to the NCAA Singles Tournament in May. Reimers has enjoyed an outstanding career, and if this was her last match, she leaves the courts as one of Nebraska's most decorated players. She is currently second in career singles wins, first in career doubles wins, second in career combined wins and first in career singles winning percentage in addition to numerous academic accolades.

“She is a great competitor and tremendous senior and has offered us amazing leadership throughout the course of her four years here,” Jacobson said about Reimers. “We are really proud of her. She can hold her head high. She has accomplished so much at the University of Nebraska and has just led in all different aspects of her life.”

Results
Kansas State 4, Nebraska 3

Doubles (order of finish: 3-1)
No. 1 Klimova/Kudlackova (KSU) def. Albers/Reimers (NU), 8-5
No. 2 Ring/Swarting (NU) vs. Cottin/Huljev (KSU), DNF
No. 3 Vieira/Yrureta (KSU) def. Chandronnait/Evans (NU), 8-2

Singles (order of finish: 3-6-2-5-4-1)
No. 1 Vivian Yrureta (KSU) def. Imke Reimers (NU), 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (10)
No. 2 Antea Huljve (KSU) def. Wiveca Swarting (NU), 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 Jana Albers (NU) def. Katerina Kudlackova (KSU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Vanessa Cottin (KSU) def. Stephanie Evans (NU), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4
No. 5 Amber Chandronnait (NU) def. Natasha Vieira (KSU), 7-6 (4), 6-0
No. 6 Ashley Finnegan (NU) def. Pauline Guemas (KSU), 6-4, 6-3