Huskers Trek to Minnesota to Face Ranked Opponents

No. 36 Nebraska (7-1) vs. No. 66 Wisconsin (7-2)
Date: Saturday, March 5, 2011
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Venue: Baseline Tennis Center
Start time: 1 p.m.

No. 36 Nebraska (7-1) vs. No. 59 Minnesota (4-4)
Date: Sunday, March 6, 2011
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Venue: Baseline Tennis Center
Start time: 11 a.m.

The Nebraska women's tennis team will get a taste of the Big Ten this weekend when they travel to Minnesota to face the Wisconsin Badgers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis. The No. 36 Huskers (7-1) will challenge the No. 66 Badgers (7-2) on Saturday before facing the No. 59 Golden Gophers (4-4) on Sunday. The Huskers will travel this week after a pair of home wins over Colorado State and Creighton last weekend in Lincoln. NU holds all-time records of 1-12 against Minnesota and 0-4 against Wisconsin.

Geibert and Weinstein Enter National Rankings

Junior Madeleine Geibert and Sophomore Stefanie Weinstein achieved their first appearance this season in the national rankings on March 1. The duo is ranked No. 76 in the ITA DI Women's National Doubles Rankings. Geibert and Weinstein play No. 1 doubles for Nebraska and are 7-2 this season, including one win against a ranked duo vs. Wyoming.

Nebraska Maintains Poll Presence
The Huskers slipped to No. 36 in the latest ITA Women's National Team Rankings despite positing another two wins last week. The March 1 rankings are the first computerized rankings of the 2011 season, with the previous rankings being based on coach's voting.

Nebraska has defeated three ranked opponents so far this season and will face two more this weekend. This is the seventh consecutive week of the 2011 season in which NU is ranked. The Huskers are fifth among Big 12 teams, coming in behind Baylor (No. 7), Oklahoma (No. 19), Texas (No. 24) and Texas A&M (No. 32).

Tracking the Rankings
Date                 Rank
Jan. 4               #34
Jan. 25             #34
Feb. 3               #33
Feb. 8               #32
Feb. 14             #31
Feb. 22             #26
March 1            #36

Scouting the Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers are 7-2 this season and will travel to Minneapolis following their 6-1 victory over Marquette on Feb. 23. Wisconsin has wins over Old Dominion, Green Bay, Northern Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Western Illinois, Milwaukee and Marquette, and has fallen at the hands of Notre Dame and William & Mary.

Wisconsin is led by Head Coach Brian Fleishman, who is 138-127 in ten seasons in Madison. The Badgers return seven players from last season's 9-16 squad.

Scouting the Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota will enter this weekend's matches with a 4-4 record on the season. All four of the Golden Gopher's losses have been to ranked opponents: No. 53 Marshall, No. 23 Northwestern, No. 24 Oklahoma and No. 39 North Carolina State. Minnesota has posted wins over Kentucky, Marquette, Oregon and BYU, and will host this weekend's action following a 4-3 loss to North Carolina State.

The Golden Gophers are coached by Tyler Thompson. Thompson is 87-123 in nine seasons at Minnesota. UM returns six athletes from last year's 10-14 team.

Huskers Capture Pair of Home Wins
The Nebraska women's tennis team rose to 7-1 on the season after a pair of wins at the Nebraska Tennis Center last weekend. The Huskers cruised past Colorado State by a score of 6-1 on Feb. 26 before sweeping in-state rival Creighton 7-0 on Feb. 27.

Nebraska began the weekend on Saturday against Colorado State. After snagging three strong victories in doubles, the Huskers moved into singles play.  The Huskers then took the court in singles play, where they rattled off four quick victories to wrap up their victory. Janine Weinreich was first to finish for NU, posting a win  at the No. 5 position. Stefanie Weinstein grabbed the next win for the Huskers, defeating her opponent in No. 3 singles. Madeleine Geibert finished quickly thereafter, sealing her win in No. 1 singles and giving Nebraska their fourth overall point to clinch the match. Patricia Veresova came in next, recording a victory at the No. 2 spot. The Huskers' Maike Zeppernick ground out a tough first set in No. 6 singles en route to her win. NU's Frederike Putthoff was not able to wrap up the win at the No. 4 position and fell, marking Nebraska's only loss on the day.

The Huskers kicked off their Sunday dual against Creighton with doubles, where Jennifer Holmberg and Abby Buxton led the way at the No. 3 position, sweeping their opponent, 8-0. Nebraska then clinched the doubles point with Patricia Veresova and Maike Zeppernick's win in No. 2 doubles. The Huskers closed out doubles with Madeleine Geibert and Patricia Veresova's victory at the No. 1 spot. Play continued on in singles, where Nebraska quickly logged wins in all six singles matches to lock up their perfect sweep over the Bluejays.