Huskers Travel to Texas

No. 38 Nebraska (16-3, 4-1 Big 12) vs. No. 9 Baylor (15-3, 5-1 Big 12)
Date: Friday, April 8, 2011
Location: Waco, Texas
Venue: Baylor Tennis Center
Start time: 5 p.m.

No. 38 Nebraska (16-3, 4-1 Big 12) vs. No. 39 Texas Tech (14-4, 4-1 Big 12)
Date: Sunday, April 10, 2011
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Venue: McLeod Tennis Complex
Start time: 11 a.m.

The Nebraska women’s tennis team will take to the road for a pair of duals in Texas this weekend. The No. 38 Huskers (16-3, 4-1 Big 12) will face the No. 9 Baylor Bears (15-3, 5-1 Big 12) on Friday before taking on the No. 39 Texas Tech Red Raiders (14-4, 4-1 Big 12) on Sunday. NU is 1-18 all-time against the Bears and 15-8 all-time against the Red Raiders.

Nebraska Rises in Rankings
The Big Red rose three spots in the rankings to the No. 38 position in the latest ITA Division I Women’s Tennis Rankings. The Huskers achieved their first upset victory over a ranked opponent this season last weekend, toppling No. 31 Kansas State in Manhattan. This is the twelfth-straight week that Nebraska has been ranked.

Nebraska is fifth among Big 12 teams this week in the rankings, coming in behind Baylor (No. 9), Oklahoma (No. 22), Texas (No. 25) and Texas A&M (No. 33).

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
March 8            #32
March 15           #29
March 22           #41
March 29           #41
April 5               #38

NU Climbs Big 12 Standings
Nebraska climbed two spots to third in the Big 12 standings for the week of April 5. Nebraska has a record of 4-1 in conference play (.800) and only trails Baylor (5-1, .833) and Oklahoma (5-1, .833). The Huskers currently hold the best overall winning percentage in the conference at .842.

Scouting the Baylor Bears
Baylor currently leads both the Big 12 standings and Big 12 schools in the ITA women’s tennis rankings.  The Bears are 15-3 this season and have won each of their last five matches, which included wins over No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 23 Texas and No. 33 SMU.  

Baylor currently has five players in the ITA Women’s National Singles Rankings: No. 14 Sona Novakova, No. 36 Nina Secerbegovic, No. 38 Diana Nakic, No. 103 Jelena Stanivuk and No. 124 Karolina Filipiak. In addition, the Bears also feature the No. 35-ranked duo of Sona Novakova and Nina Secerbegovic in doubles action. Novakova is 24-7 in singles this season, including 10-5 at the No. 1 position.

The Bears are led by head coach Joey Scrivano, who holds a career record of 249-70. Scrivano has led Baylor to seven conference championships and conference mark of 82-6.

Scouting the Texas Tech Red Raiders
The Red Raiders currently reside at No. 38 in the ITA rankings and hold a conference record of 4-1.  Texas Tech upset then-No. 23 Texas on April 1, 4-3.

The Red Raiders are led on the court by freshman Samantha Adams, who has a 21-8 singles record so far this season, including 12-3 at the No. 2 position. Adams and senior Kelsy Garland  are 17-8 in doubles action and hold a 10-3 mark at the No. 1 spot.

The Red Raiders are coached by Todd Petty. Petty is in his third season as head coach Texas Tech.

Huskers Go 2-0 in Weekend Action
Nebraska rose to 4-1 in Big 12 action after picking up a pair of wins over Kansas State and Kansas last weekend.

The Huskers first wrapped up an upset win over then-No. 31 Kansas State in Manhattan on April 1 by a score of 4-3. NU swept through doubles action, beginning with Madeleine Geibert and Stefanie Weinstein’s victory in No. 1 doubles, 8-3. Patricia Veresova and Janine Weinreich’s tacked on another win at the No. 2 position, 8-3, allowing the Huskers to clinch the doubles point. Maike Zeppernick and Chelsea Finnegan completed the sweep with their 8-5 win in No. 3 doubles. Nebraska added wins at the No. 2, 6 and 1 singles positions to secure the victory.

Nebraska then completed the weekend with a 5-2 victory over Kansas in Lincoln. Geibert and Weinstein secured an upset win in the No. 1 position first, and Veresova and Weinreich clinched the No. 2 doubles win and the doubles point for the Huskers. The Huskers tacked on wins at the No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 positions, snagging the victory from the Jayhawks.