Thursday, 04/19/2012

The No. 71 Nebraska men’s tennis team will play a pair of Big Ten Conference matches this weekend as they close out their regular season schedule. Nebraska enters the weekend with a 10-12 record and is 3-6 in Big Ten action.

No. 71 Nebraska (10-12, 3-6 Big Ten) vs. No. 35 Minnesota (11-6, 6-3 Big Ten)
Match Date: Friday, April 20, 2012
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.
Venue: Baseline Tennis Center
Start time: 3 p.m.

No. 71 Nebraska (10-12, 3-6 Big Ten) vs. Wisconsin (10-11, 2-7 Big Ten)
Match Date: Sunday, April 22, 2012
Location: Lincoln, Neb.
Venue: NU Varsity Courts or Nebraska Tennis Center
Start time: Noon

Nebraska will open this weekend’s play up in Minneapolis, Minn., at the Baseline Tennis Center when it faces off against the No. 35 Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers are 11-6 on the season and 6-3 in Big Ten action. Friday’s match is set to begin at 3 p.m.

The Huskers will then travel back to Lincoln for Senior Day as they close out their regular season schedule against Wisconsin on Sunday, April 22. Sunday’s match is set to begin a noon and will be held at the NU Varsity Courts.

Sunday’s match will mark the last match for three Huskers seniors: Christopher Aumueller, Drew Freeman and Benedikt Lindheim. The Huskers will honor the three players before Sunday’s match.

Rough Weekend in Michigan
The Huskers had a tough weekend in Michigan going 0-2 against Michigan and Michigan State. The Huskers started off the weekend losing in heartbreaking fashion as they dropped the match to UM, 4-3. The Huskers were in position to win the doubles point and had match point, but were unable to convert and Michigan came back to win the doubles point, which eventually was the deciding point in the match. On Sunday, the Huskers traveled to East Lansing, Mich., and were downed by the Spartans, 5-2.

Lindheim’s Win Count
After going 1-1 this past weekend, senior Benedikt Lindheim now sits at 63 career wins which has him tied at the No. 4 spot on the Huskers’ all-time wins list with Lance Mills. Up next on the list is Robert Sjoholm with 93 wins.

The Seniors

Nebraska will honor three seniors on Sunday who have helped play a large part in helping the program continue to take the next step forward. The Huskers will honor co-captains Aumueller, Lindheim along with a third senior in Freeman.

Aumueller, the senior from, Bayreuth, Germany, has 52 career wins and has played the last two years at one of the top two spots in the Huskers’ lineup. Aumueller has been a key part in helping the Huskers qualify for back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.

Lindheim, the senior from Regensburg, Germany, enters his final weekend with 63 career wins as he sits tied at No. 4 on the Huskers’ all-time wins list. Lindheim has played at one of the top two spots in the Huskers’ lineup the past year and, like Aumueller, has played a key role in helping the Huskers qualify for their two NCAA Tournaments.

Freeman, the senior from Tulsa, Okla., has a career singles record of 2-2. Throughout the past two seasons, he’s seen some singles action and doubles action in the Huskers’ lineup.

Huskers Drop Three Spots in Latest Rankings
In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings released on April 17, the Huskers dropped three spots to No. 71 in the country. In singles play, the Huskers have two ranked players in No. 72 Christopher Aumueller and No. 106 Benedikt Lindheim. In doubles play, the two form the No. 27 ranked doubles squad in the country.

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
4/3        #68
4/10      #68
4/17      #71

Scouting the Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers enter the weekend with an 11-6 record on the year and are 6-3 in Big Ten action as they are ranked No. 35 in the country. The Gophers are 7-1 at home this season and 6-6 against ranked teams. The Gophers have one ranked singles player in No. 89 Leandro Toledo. Toledo is 11-5 on the year and 9-5 from the No. 2 spot. The Gophers also have the No. 33 ranked doubles team in the country of Rok Bonin and Julian Dehn. The two are 13-3 on the year and 11-3 from the No. 1 spot. The Gophers are coached by Geoff Young, who is in his sixth season.

Scouting the Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers enter the weekend with a 10-11 record. They are 2-7 in Big Ten play. The Badgers will host the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday before heading to Lincoln for Sunday’s match. The Badgers have one doubles team ranked in No. 28 Billy Bertha and Fredrik Ask. The two are 10-4 on the season with all 14 matches coming from the No. 1 spot. Most likely playing No. 1 singles for the Badgers on Sunday will be Ask, who is 8-9 on court No. 1 and 9-11 overall on the year. Wisconsin is coached by Greg Van Emburgh. This is Van Emburgh’s sixth season with the Badgers.

Live Stats
If Friday’s match is indoors, live stats will be provided and the link will be at the top of the page. However, live stats will be provided on Sunday and you can find that link on the top of the page as well.