Huskers Begin NCAA Matches with Wichita State

2013 NCAA Tournament Regionals - First and Second Rounds
Teams Participating: No. 16 Nebraska (22-5), Wichita State (15-10), No. 27 Tulsa (19-6), No. 57 UNLV (19-7)
Dates: Friday, May 10 (First Round)
Saturday, May 11 (Second Round)
Location: Lincoln, Neb.
Venue: Vine Street Courts
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Huskers Host First Ever NCAA Tournament Matches

The No. 16 Nebraska Huskers women’s tennis team (22-5), as the No. 15 seed welcome three teams to Lincoln, Neb. for the NCAA Tournament Regional matches on May 10-11. The teams joining the Huskers are Wichita State, No. 27 Tulsa, and No. 57 UNLV. 

The action will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 10 with No. 27 Tulsa heading up against the No. 57 Rebels. The Huskers will face Wichita State (15-10) at 2 p.m. The matches will be played at the Vine Street Courts on the city campus of Nebraska south of 17th and Vine Streets but will relocate to the Nebraska Tennis Center on N 70th Street in case of adverse weather. 

Nebraska hopes to capture its third NCAA victory in school history and are pushing to advance the furthest into an NCAA Tournament in school history. Should Nebraska make the Sweet 16, it will be the farthest any team has gone in program history.

Huskers In The ITA National Rankings

Nebraska is currently ranked 16th in this week’s rankings. The ITA Division I women’s tennis rankings were released Thursday, May 2 and Nebraska remained at the No. 16 spot in the nation this week. The Huskers have remained in the top 25 of the nation the entire 2013 season to date peaking at No. 6, the highest in school history.

Mary Weatherholt remained at No. 11 in ITA singles holding a record of 23-1 (11-1 against ranked opponents) on the season, including victories against then-ranked No. 16 Ema Burgic of Baylor, No. 23 Brynn Boren of Tennessee, No. 58 Britney Sanders of Notre Dame, No. 41 Kelsey Dieters of Ohio State, No. 17 Petra Niedermayerova of Kansas State, No. 120 Melissa Kopinski of Illinois, and No. 55 Kate Turvy of Northwestern, No. 111 Leslie Hureau of Indiana, No. 57 Petra Januskova of Penn State, No. 28 Emina Bektas of Michigan, and No. 123 Veronica Corning of Northwestern. Her only loss to a ranked opponent came at the hands of No. 83 Malika Rose of Oklahoma State.

Mary Weatherholt and partner Patricia Veresova remained in the ITA doubles rankings at No. 3 this week. The two are 19-2 on the season, including six victories against ranked opponents over then-ranked No. 12 Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely of Tennesse, No. 31 Petra Niedermayerova and Karla Bonacic from Kansas State, No. 8 Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton of Northwestern, No. 75 Petra Januskova and Chelsea Utting of Penn State, No. 39 Krisztina Kapitany and Mara Schmidt of Purdue, and No. 2 Brooke Bolender and Emina Bektas of Michigan.

Nebraska is currently 12-4 against teams ranked in the ITA top 75, with six victories against opponents ranked inside the top 25. The Huskers have knocked off No. 7 Northwestern, No. 15 Baylor, No. 18 Notre Dame, No. 19 Purdue, No. 21 Vanderbilt, No. 23 Tennessee, No. 30 Penn State, No. 32 Kansas State, No. 32 Indiana, No. 37 Illinois, No. 55 Ohio State, and No. 64 Wyoming. Nebraska’s losses came from No. 10 Miami at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 8, No. 35 Oklahoma State on March 21, No. 7 Michigan on April 13, and No. 15 Northwestern during the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

The Huskers are the third-highest ranked team in the Big Ten behind No. 10 Michigan and No. 11 Northwestern. Eight teams from the Big Ten are in the top 75 this week, with a total of three in the top 25. The remaining ranked Big Ten teams are No. 30 Purdue, No. 41 Indiana, No. 45 Illinois, No. 47 Penn State, and No. 73 Ohio State.

Mary Weatherholt Earns Athlete of the Week Three Times

The Huskers senior from Prairie Village, Kan. won the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete-of-the-Week honors on March 13 following her impressive undefeated record, including several victories over ranked opponents in both singles and doubles. This marks the third time that Weatherholt has earned the award this season thus far, after claiming the honors the week of Jan. 30 and Feb. 13.

Huskers in the Record Books

Weatherholt, with her 23 singles victories thus far this season, has set the record for Career Singles wins at 116, previously held by Sandra Noetzel from 1996-2000. She set the record on Friday, Feb. 22 with a victory agaisnt UALR.

Weatherholt, with an impressive record this spring season at 42-3 combined record (23-1 single, 19-2 doubles), has reached 198 combined victories to become the winningest women’s tennis player in Huskers history, formerly held by former teammate Madeleine Geibert with 181 total career combined wins.

Stefanie Weinstein has notched 48 combined victories this season which places her at No. 2 on the Career Combined wins record board (with 183). She passed Madeleine Geibert on Friday, April 26 with her two victories against Minnesota.

Weinstein also has 26 individual doubles wins this season which puts her at the No. 1 spot on the school’s Career Doubles Individual Wins list at 95. She surpassed former teammate Madeleine Geibert at 91 with her victory against Michigan State on Sunday, April 14 to achieve the top spot.

Mary Weatherholt has accumulated 19 doubles individual wins this season putting her at No. 3 on the Career Doubles Individual wins with 82. 

Janine Weinreich has amassed 27 doubles individual victories this season notching her at No. 4 on the Career Doubles Individuals wins list with 75 total. Weinreich toppled Reimers with her victory on Friday, April 26 against Wisconsin.

Weinstein and Weinreich, as a doubles team, have climbed onto the Season Doubles Team wins list at the No. 4 with their 26 victories this season. The duo would need one more to put them ahead of No. 4 Madeleine Geibert and Weinstein’s 2011-12 season tally of 26, with whom they currently share the No. 4 spot.

Weatherholt and Veresova Earn NCAA Bids

Nebraska has two seniors participating in the individual championships of the NCAA tournament after the team portion. Mary Weatherholt earned an automatic bid to join 64 players in the singles championships as well as earning an automatic selection with doubles partner Patricia Veresova to play in the 32-pair doubles championships. These matches are held My 22-27 following the team matches on May 16-21.

Huskers Win the Herman, Weatherholt Grabs Top Honors

The women’s tennis team earned Nebraska’s Herman Award, which goes to the team with the highest team GPA of all the Huskers sports, with a GPA of 3.793. The team won the award last season in 2012 as well.

Weatherholt also earned Nebraska’s Student Athlete of the Year award. The award only goes to one male and one female student athlete from all Huskers sports every year and Weatherholt’s hard work and success both on and off the court was able to see the senior attain the honor in her final season as a Husker student athlete.

Scouting Wichita State
    Head Coach: Colin Foster
    National Ranking: NR

Wichita State enters the NCAA Tournament as the Missouri Valley Conference champions after winning the MVC tournament in April. The Shockers are currently 15-10 overall. Wichita State currently aren’t ranked have no players in the singles rankings and no duos ranked in doubles. Wichita State and Nebraska have met 27 times throughout history with the series led by the Huskers 17-10.