Huskers Open Season at Illinois.

Nebraska at Illinois

Saturday, Oct. 9

11 a.m. | ARC Pool

Lincoln- The Nebraska swimming and diving team will begin their regular season Saturday Oct. 9, at future Big 10 opponent Illinois at 11 a.m at Illinois' ARC Pool in Champaign, Ill. This year marks the fourth year in a row that the Huskers open the season against the Illini and are 1-2 in the previous three duels. The Huskers last beat the Illini in 2007(172-126) but have dropped the duels in 2008 and 2009 (129-171, 135-165).

This is not the first time in the pool for either squad this season. The Huskers hosted both the NU Alumni Meet on Sep 25., and the Scarlet-Cream Intrasquad on Oct. 2., while the Illini hosted their Orange and Blue meet also on Oct. 2.

The Scarlet defeated the Cream in the Intrasquad Meet on Bailey Pons' three wins on the day(200-, 500-, 1,000-yard freestyle). Other winners on the day include Ariel Weech, Kelsey Grushecky, Kristin Strecker, Payton Michaud for the Scarlets. Cream winners include Ellan Dufour, D'Arcy Schmidt, Alyson Ramsey and Kaitlan Walker. The Huskers also defeated the Alumni in the Sept. 25. Alumni Meet.

The 2010-11 season marks Head Coach Pablo Morales' tenth season at the helm. The 2004 Big 12 Coach of the Year owns a 46-31 career record at Nebraska and is aided by Assistant Coach Doug Humphrey in his 11th season and Diving Coach Natasha Chikina in her sixth season with the team. Undergraduate Assistant Coaches and former Nebraska swimmers Mariah Hutchinson and Sarah Ziegelmann join the coaching staff as well.

The Nebraska senior class is comprised of seven seniors (Jess Andrews, Claire Desormey, Julie Giehl, Kelsey Grushecky, Blaine Hoppenrath, Brandie Kavalec, Meredith Matthies and Rachell McClain), all of whom have extensive experience at the Big 12 Championships. The freshman class also welcomes a bevy of former state champions in Morgan Flannigan, Ashleigh Grammar, Shannon Guy, Lexie Halberstadt, Bailey Pons and Kristin Strecker. Payton Michaud and Megan Ziemann have each won state runner-up awards.

The divers are represented by 2010 Zone C qualifiers Kailey Creek, Amy Herman, Alyson Ramsey and Kaitlan Walker. D'Arcy Schmidt also returns to the diving squad along with Shannon Toomey and the lone newcomer- Payton Michaud.

Following the duel with Illinois, the Huskers have a bit of a layoff until Nov. 6 when the Huskers travel to Reno, Nevada to take on the Nevada Wolf Pack. The Huskers return home to host the Wyoming Cowboys on Nov. 12 at the Devaney Natatorium. The Huskers own an 11-1 record against the Cowboys in their all-time duel. That mark is the second best winning percentage the Huskers have against any team. The Huskers best record against any team is against the University of Nebraska-Omaha where they own a 12-0 record.

Scouting the Illini

Last season, the Illini posted a 7-6 dual record in the regular season including wins over Iowa State and Michigan State. The Illini ended up placing 11th at the Big 10 Championships where they faced off against six nationally ranked teams. The Illini return three Zone C diving qualifiers in sophomore Tessa Adams and freshman Britni Fisher. They also have a returning Big 10 diver of the week in sophomore Lauren Wismer. The Illini are coached by Sue Novitsky entering her 11th season. Assitant Coach Steve Farnau is also entering his 11th season along with Diving Coach Chris Waters in his fourth season.

Young Illini

The Illini have a relatively young team as 20 of their 35 swimmers on the roster are sophomore status or below. The Illini only have five seniors beginning their final season with the team. The Huskers return 26 letterwinners from last season along with their seven freshman. The Huskers are also a relatively young team as well with 18 swimmers that are sophomore status or below.