Tennis Coaches Eager for the Curtain to Come Up

Randy York N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

With five Nebraska men’s sports and four Husker women’s programs in action this weekend at three Lincoln venues, please forgive two NU tennis coaches for feeling like kids leaving cookies and milk in the living room before they get to see what their minds have imagined for the longest time.

In his 25th season as Nebraska's women’s tennis coach, Scott Jacobson was so excited he "had the jitters” last Saturday when Nebraska officials made a dry run at the Dillon Tennis Center. “Everyone was here learning how to run the scoreboards and the whole nine yards,” Jacobson said. “It was just an exhibition, but I still had the jitters watching Nebraska vs. Nebraska.”

Husker Men Host UNO and North Dakota on Saturday

Jacobsonisn’t the only one eager to see the curtain go up Friday when the Husker women host South Dakota State at 5 p.m. In his 34th year as the Nebraska men’s head tennis coach, Kerry McDermott (pictured above right) is equally enthusiastic about his team’s unveiling matches against UNO Saturday at 2 p.m. and against North Dakota at 7 p.m.

“This is a huge opportunity for us to showcase the great facility we have,” McDermott told me. “We’re very, very excited to show people, the community, the state of Nebraska and all of our competition how nice a facility we have. We feel like it’s one of the top   tennis facilities in the country. People who haven’t been here yet are going to enjoy seeing it. They just don’t realize how nice this facility is and how it’s going to help improve our program.”

Fans Will Feel Like They’re Sitting in the Front Row

If Nebraska fans take the time to watch tennis this weekend, “I think they’ll realize the viewing is just phenomenal,” said Jacobson (pictured above with his team). Wherever fans choose to sit, “it’ll pretty much be like sitting in the front row,” Jacobson said. “Fans will have the chance to see spectacular tennis at a very, very high level. They’ll have the same kind of feeling like fans who sit in the front row at the U.S. Open. There’s just nothing like the view from up above and behind the tennis match looking down on the court. Hopefully, people will come out and appreciate tennis the way it’s supposed to be played and viewed at the collegiate level.

"They just did a phenomenal job with this facility. They built it right all the way around,” Jacobson said. “The space on the courts is phenomenal. There’s 24 feet between each court. There’s more depth to the courts than most courts. The actual court itself is the same surface that’s played in the U.S. Open."

Seven-Layer Surface Comparable to the U.S. Open

"It’s a seven-layered surface that’s very soft on your feet. I mean, they did it right in every aspect of the facility," Jacobson said. "The locker rooms facilities are phenomenal. There are coaches’ locker rooms, team locker rooms, visitor locker rooms, even locker rooms for our ‘chairs’ who umpire the sport. There’s just been a lot of thought put into everything we have.”

McDermott echoes the superlatives and expands on Jacobson’s views. “Fans will get almost a birds-eye view from almost any spot they’re watching from above,” McDermott said. “If you’re really interested, you can go to a different spot 30 or 40 yards down the hallway and go right to another court to watch another match. You’re always going to have an excellent seat to watch everything that’s going on. At the same time, if you really want to zero in on a certain player or certain match, you can and you’ll still be able to see what else is happening at the same time. This facility is great for fans.”

As Spectators, Fans Will Experience Part of the Action

According to McDermott, the Dillon Tennis Center “is probably the closest thing fans are going to see besides pro tennis right now, he said. “You’ll see a high-level of competitors and the intensity is pretty evident. You’re right there on top of the players. You’ll get to see how quick the ball moves through the air and how fast they react. As a spectator, you almost feel like ‘Oh man, I’m almost part of the action.’ I just think the overall experience is a little unbelievable for this facility, and it’ll be a great adventure for us as we go on in recruiting and building our programs.”

Jacobson offers another great promise for the future. With both Husker tennis programs moving to a state-of-the-art venue “it’ll be interesting because every new facility that’s been built on our campus over the last five or six years, the fan support has been phenomenal,” he pointed out.

New Digs Systematically Improve Attendance, Stature

Since he’s a Big Red fan himself, Jacobson makes an interesting point about the impact new facilities have on various programs. “Look what happened when Pinnacle Bank Arena opened,” he said. “The men sold out and were drawing almost 15,000 fans a game.

"Look what happened with soccer, which went from 300 fans to almost 1,600 when they moved into their new facility," Jacobson said. "Volleyball more than doubled its capacity to 8,000-plus moving to the Devaney Center. So, yes, both our tennis programs are hoping that people will come out to see this facility and watch our tennis teams play. I think if they come out once, they’ll be coming back over and over and over again.”

Editor’s note: The first 250 fans who show up for Friday’s first women’s match at the Dillon Tennis Center will receive a red commemorative tennis ball. The same opportunity applies to the first men's match Saturday and, if available, the second men's match.

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This Weekend at Home in Nebraska Athletics

Friday, Jan. 22: Women’s Tennis vs. South Dakota State, Dillon Tennis Center, 5 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 23: Swimming & Diving vs. Illinois, Devaney Natatorium, 11 a.m.

*Saturday, Jan. 23: Men's & Women's Track & Field, Mark Colligan Memorial, Devaney Indoor Track, 11:30 a.m.

Saturday, Jan. 23: Men’s Basketball vs. Michigan, Pinnacle Bank Arena, 1 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 23: Men’s Tennis vs. UNO, Dillon Tennis Center, 2 p.m.

*Saturday, Jan. 23: Men’s Gymnastics vs. Air Force, Devaney Center, 6 p.m.

*Saturday, Jan. 23: Women’s Gymnastics vs. Rutgers, Devaney Center, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 23: Men’s Tennis, North Dakota, Dillon Tennis Center, 7 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 24: Wrestling vs. Iowa, Devaney Center, 2 p.m.

* Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field and Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics are Pepsi Pack the House special events on Saturday.