Thursday, 03/29/2012

In search of their first Big Ten Conference win, the No. 70 Nebraska Cornhuskers men’s tennis team is set to hit the road for a pair of matches against two Big Ten foes. The Huskers are 7-8 on the season and 0-2 in Big Ten play.

No. 70 Nebraska (7-8, 0-2 Big Ten) vs. No. 2 Ohio State (20-2, 3-0 Big Ten)
Match Date: Friday, 30, 2012
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Venue: Varsity Tennis Courts
Start time: 5 p.m.

No. 70 Nebraska (7-8, 0-2 Big Ten) vs. Penn State (10-6, 0-3 Big Ten)
Match Date: Sunday, April 1, 2012
Location: University Park, Pa.
Venue: Sarni Tennis Center
Start time: 10 a.m.

The first match of the weekend will be on Friday, March 30 against No. 2 Ohio State at the Varsity Tennis Court in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes are 20-2 on the year and 3-0 in Big Ten play. First serve is set for 5 p.m.

Nebraska will then travel to University Park, Pa., to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Sarni Tennis Center on Sunday, April 1. The match will begin at 10 a.m. Penn State enters the match with a 10-6 record while going 0-3 in Big Ten Conference play.

Nebraska Has Tough Spring Break
Nebraska traveled west for three matches over break before returning home for a conference match. Out in California, the Huskers went 1-2. Nebraska defeated Ventura College, 9-0 before being defeated by No. 53 Cal Poly, 5-1 and No. 8 Pepperdine, 7-0. Nebraska returned home to face No. 53 Northwestern and was defeated in a close, tough match, 4-3. 

Shuffling in the Lineup
The bottom half of the Huskers’ lineup has been shuffled around lately with a variety of players seeing time on different courts. Last week during their four-match stretch, the Huskers used a different lineup at the four, five and six spots for each match.

Huskers Fall in Latest Rankings
In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings released on March 27, the Huskers dropped to No. 70 in the country. In singles play the Huskers have two players ranked in No. 79 Christopher Aumueller, who is 7-6 on the season in singles play and No. 95 Benedikt Lindheim, who has a singles record of 10-4. The two seniors also pair together to form Nebraska’s only doubles team at No. 19. As a duo, their record is 9-3 on the year.

NU in the Rankings
Date     Ranking
1/3         #40
1/24      #39
2/2        #40
2/7        #38
2/22      T-#46
2/28      #54
3/6        #60
3/13      #55
3/20      #59
3/27      #70

Scouting the Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes are 20-2 on the year and 3-0 in Big Ten Conference play. Against ranked foes this year, Ohio State has a record of 9-2. At home, the Buckeyes are 13-0. The Buckeyes have five players ranked in singles play. The top ranked Buckeye is No. 5 Blaz Rola who is 16-1 on the year. He’s 5-0 from the No. 1 spot and 11-1 from the No. 2 spot. Rola enters Friday’s match with a 10-game winning streak. Also ranked for Ohio State is No. 12 Chase Buchanan, who is 9-3 on the season, No. 54 Peter Kobelt, who has a record of 12-6 this year, No. 69 Devin McCarthy, who’s 15-3 this season, and No. 110 Nelson Vick, who’s 3-1 this year. The Buckeyes also have three doubles teams ranked in No. 1 Buchanan and Rola, No. 30 Buchanan and Kobelt and No. 39 McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen. The duo of Buchanan and Rola are 14-2 on the year with all 16 matches coming from the No. 1 doubles spot. Ohio State is coached by Ty Tucker, who is in his 13th season.

Scouting the Nittany Lions
Penn State enters Sunday’s match with a record of 10-6 on the year. The Nittany Lions are 0-3 in Big Ten play. Penn State has a record of 8-1 at home this season and is 1-5 against ranked opponents. The Nittany Lions play host to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday, March 30 before facing off with the Huskers on Sunday. Penn State has one doubles team ranked in No. 25 Jason Lee and Russell Bader. The duo is 11-1 on the season with all 12 matches coming from the No. 1 spot in Penn State’s doubles lineup. They are also 3-0 against ranked opponents. In singles play, Bader is 11-5 on the year while seeing time at all three spots in the top half of the Nittany Lion’s lineup.

Follow the Huskers with Live Stats
Live stats will be available for the Huskers’ matches this week. Follow the links at the top of the page.