Huskers Head West for ITA Kick-Off Weekend

No. 41 Nebraska (2-1) vs. No. 38 Vanderbilt (2-0)
Match Date: Friday, Jan. 28, 2011
Location: Palo Alto, Calif.
Venue: Taube South
Start time: Noon CST

No. 41 Nebraska (2-1) at No. 8 Stanford (1-0)
Match Date: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011
Location: Palo Alto, Calif.
Venue: Taube Stadium or Taube South
Start time: Noon CST

Or

No. 41 Nebraska (2-1) vs. No. 54 Santa Clara (2-0) 
Match Date: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011
Location: Palo Alto, Calif. 
Venue: Taube Stadium or Taube South
Start time: Noon CST

After finishing last weekend with a 2-1 record at the Seminole Quad with wins over Furman and Florida Atlantic, the No. 41 Nebraska Cornhuskers are set to head west to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend. The Stanford Cardinal are serving as one of the 15 tournament host sites. Both of the Huskers’ matches will take place at Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Center.

The Huskers’ first match of the tournament will be on Friday, Jan. 28 at Noon. Nebraska will square off against No. 38 Vanderbilt on the Taube South court. Depending on the outcome of Nebraska’s match Friday afternoon and the Stanford-Santa Clara match, the Huskers could either face No. 8 Stanford or No. 54 Santa Clara. Either match would start at Noon on Saturday.

The Huskers are the No. 3 seed, while the Commodores are the No. 2 seed. Stanford, the No. 1 seed, faces No. 4 seed Santa Clara.

The 15 teams to win both their matches at their respected host site will go on to play in Seattle, Wash., at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. The event will be at the Seattle Tennis Club from Feb. 18-21.

Last Time Out: Huskers go 2-1 at Seminole Quad
Last weekend the Huskers traveled to Tallahassee, Fla., to take part in the Seminole Quad. In their first match against No. 27 Florida State, the Huskers were defeated, 7-0. However, Nebraska bounced back to win their next two matches downing Furman and Florida Atlantic. The Huskers won both matches by a score of 6-1.

Against Furman, the Huskers’ two ranked players- No. 97 Benedikt Lindheim and No. 99 Calin Paar- won both of their singles matches playing from the No. 2 and 3 spot in the Huskers’ line-up respectively. Also winning singles matches for the Huskers were Andre Stenger, Tom Blackwell and Sebastian Florcyzk. The Huskers won the doubles point.

Nebraska started out winning the doubles point against Florida Atlantic and NU’s Christopher Aumueller kept it going for the Huskers being the first off the court in singles play and winning his match. Also winning their matches in singles play for the Huskers are No. 97 Benedikt Lindheim, Tom Blackwell, Andre Stenger and Sebastian Florcyzk.

Huskers Still Determining Line-up
Nebraska had three matches this past weekend and for the first two matches playing at the No. 1 spot in the Huskers’ line-up was Christopher Aumueller. At the No. 2 spot was No. 99 Calin Paar, and playing at the No. 3 spot was No. 97 Benedikt Lindheim. On Saturday, the three combined for a 2-4 record. With a different look Sunday, the three combined to go 3-0. Playing at the No. 1 spot was No. 99 Calin Paar. At the No. 2 spot was Christopher Aumueller, while the No. 3 spot was Benedikt Lindheim.

Huskers Move Up One Spot; Ranked No. 41
In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings released on Jan. 25, the Huskers moved up one spot to No. 41 after going 2-1 this past weekend. The Huskers began the season ranked No. 42.

NU in the Rankings
Date     Ranking
1/5         #42
1/25       #41

Scouting the Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt is the No. 38 ranked team in the country. The Commodores are 2-0 with wins over Tennessee Tech and Lipscomb. Vanderbilt sophomore Ryan Lipman is ranked No. 43. Lipman has won both of his matches this year playing from the No. 1 spot in the Commodores’ line-up. Vanderbilt is coached by Ian Duvenhage. This is his sixth season at the helm.

Scouting the Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal are 1-0 after defeating Sacramento State, 7-0, on Tuesday. The Cardinal are also ranked No. 8 in the nation. Stanford has three players ranked in the ITA National Singles Rankings. The three players are No. 15 Bradley Klahn, No. 41 Ryan Thacher and No. 61 Alex Clayton. The trio plays in the top three of the Cardinal’s line-up. All three won their matches on Tuesday. Stanford also has the No. 16 ranked doubles team that includes Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher and the No. 60 ranked doubles team that include Daniel Ho and Jamin Ball. The Cardinal face the Broncos of Santa Clara in the first round. The head coach of the Cardinal is John Whitlinger. This is his eighth season.

Scouting the Santa Clara Broncos
Santa Clara is 2-0 this year with wins over Sonoma State and UC Davis. The Broncos are ranked No. 54 in the latest ITA rankings. The Broncos have a match against UC Santa Cruz before their first match in the ITA Kick-Off weekend against Stanford. Junior Kyle Dandan has been playing in the No. 1 spot of the Broncos’ line-up, and is 2-0 on the year. Santa Clara is coached by Derek Mills. This is his fourth season.

Follow the Huskers with Live Video and Stats
Live stats and video will be available for the Huskers matches this weekend. The link is available at the top of the page.