College Tennis News - Huskers Host Illinois and Northwestern

The No. 10 Nebraska Huskers women's tennis team (13-1, 2-0 Big Ten) faces off against No. 37 Illinois (6-5, 0-1 Big Ten) and No. 7 Northwestern (7-4, 1-0 Big Ten) in the upcoming few days. The Huskers face the Fighting Illini on Friday, March 8 at 5 p.m. before welcoming the Wildcats on Sunday, March 10 at noon in Lincoln, Neb. at the Nebraska Tennis Center. Northwestern is the highest ranked Big Ten team in the nation currently so Sunday will provide some exciting action when the No. 10 and No. 7 teams go head to head.

Huskers In The ITA National Rankings

Nebraska's current rank at 10th is the highest in school history. The ITA Division I women’s tennis rankings were released Tuesday, March 5 and Nebraska remained No. 10 in the nation this week.

Mary Weatherholt remains ranked No. 16 in ITA singles with an undefeated record (12-0, 5-0 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, No. 41 Kelsey Dieters of Ohio State, and No. 17 Petra Niedermayerova of Kansas State.

Mary Weatherholt and partner Patricia Veresova remain in the ITA doubles rankings at No. 13. The two are undefeated (9-0) on the season, including victories over then-ranked No. 12 Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely of Tennesse and No. 31 Petra Niedermayerova and Karla Bonacic from Kansas State.

Nebraska is currently 7-1 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. 32 Kansas State, 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 third-highest ranked team in the Big Ten trailing only behind No. 7 Northwestern and No. 8 Michigan. 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. 21 Purdue, No. 37 Illinois, No. 34 Penn State, and No. 42 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 12 singles victories thus far this season, has set the record for Career Singles wins at 105 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 21-0 combined (12-0 single, 9-0 doubles), Weatherholt only needs five more combined wins on the season to become the winningest women's tennis player in Huskers history (four to tie record) currently held by former teammate Madeleine Geibert with 181 total career combined wins for Nebraska (Weatherholt 156 concluding 2012 and 177 including 2012-13).

Stefanie Weinstein has notched 28 combined victories this season which pushes her to No. 4 of Career Combined wins (with 163). Two more victories will see her topple Imke Rivers at the No. 3 spot at 164.

Weinstein also has 14 individual doubles wins this season which bumps her to the No. 2 spot on the school’s Career Doubles Individual Wins list at 83. This pushes former No. 2 Imke Reimers' 74 to third and former No. 3 Sandra Noetzel's 71 to fourth, Weinstein’s former mark. Eight more individual doubles wins would put her tied for first with former teammate Madeleine Geibert with 91. 11 more victories would set the record and peak her at the top of the list.

Looking Ahead

Nebraska heads to sunny San Diego, Calif. for a couple of matches. In San Diego, the Huskers will battle San Diego on Sunday, March 17 at noon and then face off against Oklahoma State on Thursday, March 21 at 5 p.m. Nebraska will then continue on the road to State College, Pa. to play Penn State on Sunday, March 31 at 11 a.m.

Scouting Illinois
    Head Coach: Michelle Dasso
    2012 Record: 17-8, 9-2 Big Ten
    National Ranking: 37

Illinois is currently 6-5 overall. The Fighting Illini are coming off of a loss against Northwestern resulting in a 5-2 score. Illinois currently is ranked No. 37 nationally and have one player in the singles rankings with No. 120 Melissa Kopinski. The Illini also have one pair in the doubles rankings with No. 22 Melissa Kopinski and Rachael White. Last season Illinois went 17-8, 9-2 Big Ten. Illinois and Nebraska have met one time throughout history with the series led by Illinois 1-0. The last time these two teams met was on March 24, 2012 which resulted in a 4-3 victory for Illinois.

Scouting Northwestern
    Head Coach: Claire Pollard
    2012 Record: 20-9, 10-1 Big Ten
    National Ranking: 7

Northwestern currently sit with a 7-4 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats are coming off of a 5-2 win against Illinois. Northwestern is currently ranked No. 7 in the national standings as a team and have two singles and one doubles duo in the rankings. Their singles are No. 55 Kate Turvy and No. 96 Belinda Niu and their ranked pair is No. 8 Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton. The Wildcats and Huskers have met once in history which resulted in a 5-2 victory on March 25, 2012 for Nebraska, who lead the series 1-0.