Huskers Finish Regular Season on the Road

 

No. 63 Nebraska (12-12, 3-6 Big Ten)
at No. 22 Penn State (19-4, 6-3 Big Ten)
Friday, April 18 at 3 p.m. - University Park, Pa.

 

at No. 1 Ohio State (25-3, 9-0 Big Ten)
Sunday, April 20 at Noon - Columbus, Ohio

 

NU Closes Out Regular Season on the Road

The No. 62 Huskers face a four-match week starting off on the road against Iowa on Wednesday, April 9 at 2 p.m. in Iowa City, Iowa. After that, Nebraska returns home to welcome No. 34 Northwestern and unranked Nebraska-Omaha on Friday, April 11 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. The Big Red finish out the week on Sunday when they host No. 11 Illinois on Sunday, April 13 at noon. The Huskers sit at 10-10 overall, with a 4-7 mark against ranked teams including a 2-4 mark in the Big Ten. The Huskers split the matches last weekend with a 6-1 victory over Indiana and were defeated 1-6 by the Purdue.

Huskers In The ITA National Rankings

Nebraska dropped one spot to No. 63 in the ITA Top 75 after its four-match week. The national ITA Top 75 rankings were released on Tuesday, April 15.

The Cornhuskers are one of nine Big Ten teams in the ITA Top 75. Nebraska is joined by No. 1 Ohio State, No. 10 Illinois, No. 22 Penn State, No. 28 Purdue, No. 35 Northwestern, No. 49 Michigan, No. 51 Minnesota, and No. 59 Indiana. Ohio State and Illinois are the only Big Ten teams in the top ten and they are joined by Penn State and Purdue to be the only four in the top 30.

The Huskers are the ninth-highest ranked Big Ten team. The Huskers are 4-9 against ranked opponents suffering losses to No. 36 Florida State, No. 53 Texas Tech, No. 49 Louisville, No. 45 Drake, No. 50 Minnesota, No. 46 Michigan, No. 33 Purdue, No. 34 Northwestern and No. 11 Illinois while toppling No. 52 Denver, Wisconsin twice while they were ranked No. 66 and No. 58, and No. 69 Indiana.

Sophomore Dusty Boyer entered the ITA Singles Rankings this week, appearing at the No. 111 spot out of 125.

Scouting the Penn State Nittany Lions
Head Coach: Jeff Zinn
2013 Record: 8-17, 2-9 Big Ten
National Ranking: 22

The Nittany Lions are 19-4 with a 6-3 conference mark coming off a two-match losing spell to face the No. 63-ranked Huskers. Penn State went 8-17 overall in 2013 and 2-9 in conference play, losing 4-2 to Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions are currently ranked No. 22 in the ITA Top 75 with one ranked singles player in No. 33 Leonard Stakhovsky and one ranked doubles pair in No. 36 Russell Bader and Leonard Stakhovsky. The last match between the two teams was on Sunday, March 31, 2013 that resulted in a 4-3 victory for NU.

Scouting the Ohio State Buckeyes
Head Coach: Ty Tucker
2013 Record: 35-3, 11-0 Big Ten
National Ranking: 1

The Buckeyes are 25-3 and undefeated 9-0 in the Big Ten coming off a tow-match winning streak to face the No. 63-ranked Huskers. Ohio State went 35-3 overall in 2013 and 11-0 in conference play. OSU won the Big Ten regular season title as well as the Big Ten Tournament in 2013, defeating Michigan 4-0 in the tournament final. Ohio State went five rounds deep into the NCAA Tournament in 2013 posting wins over Cleveland State, Washington, Texas A&M and USC before slipping 4-3 to UCLA to be knocked out of the competition. The Buckeyes are currently the No. 1 team in the nation sitting at the top of the ITA Top 75 with three ranked singles in No. 7 Peter Kobelt, No. 93 Herkko Pollanen and No. 110 Hunter Callahan. OSU has two ranked doubles pairs in No. 3 Peter Kobelt and Kevin Metka and No. 50 Peter Kobelt and Ralf Steinbach. The last match between the two teams was on Friday, March 29, 2013 that resulted in a 6-1 victory for the Buckeyes.

Looking Ahead

Following this weekend’s matches, the Huskers enter post-season play heading to East Lansing, Mich. to participate in the Big Ten Tournament which takes place Thursday-Sunday, April 24-27. NU’s matchup will be determined at the conclusion of the regular season.