Feb. 10, 2007

The University of Missouri women's tennis team takes on the 63rd-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers Sunday in Lincoln, Neb. The match will serve as the Big 12 opener for both teams.

Last Time Out

The Tigers fell to No. 52 Arkansas, 6-1, in Mizzou's home opener last Saturday (Feb. 3) at the Green Tennis Center. MU's only victory came at No. 6 singles, where freshman Kaitlin Dunham downed AU's Carly Dixon in straight sets. The Tigers will look to improve on their 1-1 record Sunday in Lincoln.

Previewing Nebraska

The 63rd-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers are 4-1 on the young season and they are coming off a win against Colorado State last Sunday in Lincoln. Their loss was to one of America's hottest teams, No. 57 Wichita State. WSU is 3-0 on the season after beating two of the Big 12's ranked teams, Nebraska (63) and Kansas State (61).

The Huskers are led by top singles player Imke Reimers, who is currently ranked 30th in the nation. This marks the second straight match the Tigers will face a singles player ranked in the top-100. Amanda Pratzel lost to No. 65 Ela Kaluder (Arkansas) last Saturday.

Reimers is 5-0 on the spring and 16-3 overall. One of those 16 victories came against Pratzel in the Gopher Invitational.

Series The Tigers and Huskers have met 30 times over the history of both programs, with Nebraska winning 20 of those matches. The Huskers won last season's meeting, 5-2, in Columbia.

Against Nebraska in the Fall Tiger players were 2-4 against Huskers in singles action last fall. The players met in the Gopher Invitational and the ITA Central Championships. They did not play each other in doubles.

Tiger Notes

Big 12 Openers

Sunday's match marks Mizzou's Big 12 season opener. The match also serves as the first league contest for Nebraska. The match up in Lincoln is the only Big 12 match up this weekend. After matches against Iowa State and Kansas, Texas is atop the Big 12 standings. Those were the only three matches of the season so far, however.

Dunham off to a good start

Mizzou freshman Kaitlin Dunham (Kansas City, Mo.) is off to a 2-0 start in singles play. As previously mentioned, she picked up a win at No. 6 against Arkansas last weekend, and to open the season she earned a victory at No. 5. Including fall action, Dunham is now 6-3 in her first season with the Tigers.

Show-Me Tennis

The Tigers will play at least 14 matches in the state of Missouri, as they opened in St. Louis and will participate in the 11th Big 12 Championships, hosted by the University of Kansas in Kansas City, Mo., in April. Mizzou hosts 12 home matches as well.

Starkey Over the Century Mark

Early last season Head Coach Blake Starkey recorded his 100th win as Mizzou Head Coach. Starkey currently has 108 wins, which is by far the most in MU tennis history. Jim LaRue, who coached the Tigers from 1988-1995, is second on the list with 51 wins.

Josbena Moving Up Career Wins List

Senior Erika Josbena currently has 45 singles wins, which is good enough for 16th on Mizzou's All-Time singles leader board. Her next win will move her into 14th place. Recent Tigers on the list include Hana Kraftova with 50 wins (12th place) and Yelena Olshanskaya with 52 (10th place).

Olshanskaya to Miss Season

Senior Yelena Olshanskaya will sit out her senior season due to off-season knee surgery. She was the Tigers' No. 1 singles player for most of last season, going 5-8 at that spot for the Tigers. As previously mentioned, she will finish her career with 52 singles wins, currently good for 10th on the all-time list.

After Nebraska

Next weekend the Tigers will return to the Green Tennis Center for a couple of matches. Saturday (Feb. 17) Mizzou will host Murray State at Noon and Sunday (Feb. 18) 28th-ranked Texas A&M visits the GTC. The Sunday match gets underway at 11:00 a.m.