Huskers Open Spring Season Against Creighton

Nebraska vs. Creighton

Friday, Jan. 30  |  3 p.m.  |  NebraskaTennisCenter

 

Huskers Open Spring Season Against Creighton

The Nebraska women’s tennis team opens up its spring season this weekend with a match against in-state foe Creighton on Friday, Jan. 30, at 3 p.m. at the NebraskaTennisCenter. The match marks the third consecutive year that the Huskers have opened the year by playing the Bluejays.

 

Nebraska has won 87 of its last 90 home non-conference duals, dating back to the 1998 spring season. The Huskers swept all 10 of their non-conference opponents at home last season, while winning their only non-conference road game 6-1 against Loyola Marymount to outscore their opponents 73-1 in non-conference play. Nebraska hopes to continue their enormous success it had last year in non-conference play into this season, as the team has seven straight non-conference home duals to start the season.

 

The Huskers had an outstanding fall season, going a combined 73-28 in singles and doubles play, including several tournament titles. Leading the way for NU in the fall were junior Wiveca Swarting, who went 14-5 in singles play and 8-2 in doubles play, and freshman Mary Weatherholt, who went 16-2 in singles play.

 

Scouting the Bluejays

The Bluejays went 7-13 last season, including struggling in a tough Missouri Valley Conference by going 0-8 in conference play. Five letterwinners return from last year’s squad, including juniors Lindsey Erickson and Tess Reddin. Sophomore Lauren Mastro led last year’s team with 11 singles wins, including a 5-0 mark at the No. 1 singles spot. The doubles duo of sophomore twins Leesa and Sarah Cadwallader went 13-7 last season, tops on the team.

 

Weatherholt, Swarting Ranked in Top 125

As the Nebraska women’s tennis team prepares to start its season on Jan. 30, the Huskers have two players ranked nationally in the ITA preseason polls, as freshman Mary Weatherholt is No. 94 and junior Wiveca Swarting is No. 118.

 

Both Weatherholt and Swarting had fantastic fall seasons on the singles court, with Weatherholt going an impressive 16-2 and Swarting going 14-3 with a tournament win at the ITA Central Region Championships.

 

The Huskers also have three players that are ranked in the top 20 of the Central Region ITA rankings, with Swarting at No. 3, Weatherholt at No. 5 and freshman Madeleine Geibert at No. 20. The doubles duo of freshman Jennifer Holmberg and Weatherholt is ranked No. 13 in the regional rankings.

 

Jacobson Begins 18th Season With Huskers

Women’s tennis coach Scott Jacobson is set to begin his 18th season with the program this weekend against Creighton. Jacobson is already NU’s winningest and longest-serving coach in NU women’s tennis history, and has guided the Huskers to 12 straight winning seasons, dating back to the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996-97.

 

Assistant coach Hayden Perez is entering his fourth year as Jacobson’s top assistant. Perez spent time at FloridaState, Cameron University, Wyoming and Air Force before joining the Huskers in 2005-06. Perez was the ITA Central Region’s Assistant Coach of the Year in 2007 and has helped the Huskers earn seven All-Big 12 honors in the past three seasons, including three in each of the last two.