The No. 10 Nebraska Huskers women’s tennis team (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten) faces off against No. 32 Kansas State (4-3, 0-0 Big 12) and Iowa (5-3, 0-0 Big Ten) in the upcoming few days. The Huskers face the Wildcats on Saturday, March 2 at 1 p.m. in Lincoln, Neb. before heading to Iowa City, Iowa to face Iowa on March 5 at 3:30 p.m. The Huskers have knocked off six ranked this season and come up against another in No. 32 Kansas State this weekend.

 

No. 10 Nebraska (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten) 

vs. No. 32 Kansas State (4-3, 0-0 Big 12)

Saturday, March 2, 1 p.m. (Lincoln, Neb. - Nebraska Tennis Center)

 

No. 10 Nebraska (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten)

vs. Iowa (5-3, 0-0 Big Ten)

Tuesday, March 5, 3:30 p.m. (Iowa City, Iowa)

 

Huskers In The ITA National Rankings

Nebraska’s current rank at 10th is the highest in school history, surpassing the previous mark set two weeks ago at 15th. The ITA Division I women’s tennis rankings were released Tuesday, Feb. 26 and Nebraska climbed to No. 10 in the nation this week.

 

Mary Weatherholt remained ranked No. 16 in ITA singles with an undefeated record (10-0, 4-0 against ranked opponents) on the season, including matches against then-ranked No. 16 Ema Burgic of Baylor, No. 23 Brynn Boren of Tennessee, No. 58 Britney Sanders of Notre Dame, and No. 41 Kelsey Dieters of Ohio State.

 

Mary Weatherholt and partner Patricia Veresova climbed the ITA doubles rankings to No. 13. The two are undefeated (8-0) on the season, including a victory over then-ranked No. 12 Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely of Tennesse who are now No. 5.

 

Nebraska is currently 6-1 against teams ranked in the ITA top 75, with only two of them falling outside the top 25. The Huskers have knocked off No. 15 Baylor, No. 18 Notre Dame, No. 21 Vanderbilt, No. 23 Tennessee, No. 55 Ohio State, and No. 64 Wyoming. Nebraska’s only loss came to tenth-ranked Miami at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 8.

 

The Huskers are the second-highest ranked team in the Big Ten trailing only behind No. 8 Northwestern. Seven teams from the Big Ten are in the top 75 this week, with a total of four in the top 25. The remaining ranked Big Ten teams are No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Purdue, No. 33 Illinois, No. 35 Penn State,  and No. 55 Ohio State.

 

Mary Weatherholt Earns Big Ten Athlete of the Week Twice

The Huskers senior from Prairie Village, Kan. won the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete-of-the-Week honors on Feb. 13 following her impressive undefeated record (8-0 singles, 6-0 doubles) including several victories over ranked opponents in both singles and doubles. This marked the second time that Weatherholt has earned the award this season thus far, after claiming the honors the week of Jan. 30.

 

Weatherholt Sets Career Singles wins record for Nebraska

Weatherholt, with her 10 singles victories thus far this season, has set the record for Career Singles wins at 103 previously held by Sandra Noetzel from 1996-2000. She set the record on Friday, Feb. 22 with a victory agaisnt UALR.

 

Being undefeated on the season with 18-0 combined (10-0 single, 8-0 doubles), Weatherholt only needs eight more combined wins on the season to become the winningest women’s tennis player in Huskers history (seven to tie record) currently held by former teammate Madeleine Geibert with 181 total  career combined wins for Nebraska (Weatherholt 156 concluding 2012 and 174 including 2012-13).

 

Stefanie Weinstein has notched 24 combined victories this season which pushes her to No. 4 of Career Combined wins (with 159). Six more victories will see her topple Imke Rivers at the No. 3 spot at 164.

 

Weinstein also has 12 individual doubles wins this season which bumps her to the No. 2 spot on the school’s Career Doubles Individual Wins list at 81. This pushes former No. 2 Imke Reimers 74 to third and former No. 3 Sandra Noetzel’s 71 to fourth, Weinstein’s former mark. Ten more individual doubles wins would put her tied for first with former teammate Madeleine Geibert with 91, 11 would set the record and peak her at the top of the list.

 

Looking Ahead

Nebraska hosts No. 32 Kansas State on Saturday, March 2 at 1 p.m. here at the Nebraska Tennis Center. Next week, the Huskers hit the road to face their next Big Ten opponent, Iowa. The match against Iowa is Tuesday, March 5 at 3:30 p.m. in Iowa City, Iowa.

 

Scouting Kansas State

    Head Coach: Steve Bietau

    2012 Record: 8-14, 4-5 Big 12

    National Ranking: 32

 

Kansas State is currently 4-3 overall. The Wildcats are coming off of a loss against Purdue resulting in a 4-2 score. Kansas State currently is ranked No. 32 nationally and have two players in the singles rankings with No. 17 Petra Niedermayerova and No. 94 Karla Bonacic. The Wildcats also have two pairs in the doubles rankings with No. 31 Karla Bonacic and Petra Niedermayerova and No. 35 Petra Niedermayerova and Ivana Kubickova. Last season the Wildcats went 8-14, 4-5 Big 12. Kansas State and Nebraska have met 44 times throughout history with the series led by Nebraska at 32-12. The last time these two teams met was on Feb. 29, 2012 which resulted in a 4-3 victory for Nebraska.

 

Scouting Iowa

    Head Coach: Katie Dougherty

    2012 Record: 8-15, 2-10 Big Ten

    National Ranking: NR

 

Iowa currently sit with a 5-3 overall and no matches played in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes are coming off of a 5-2 win against Marquette. Iowa is not currently ranked in the national standings as a team and have one doubles duo in the rankings with No. 42 Ruth Seaborne and Morven McCulloch. The Hawkeyes have never beaten the Huskers who lead the series 1-0. Nebraska defeated Iowa last season 6-1 in Lincoln on March 9, 2012.