MONDAY, MARCH 14. 2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7B
Tiebreakers decide matches
Freshman Elizaveta Avdeeva strikes a forehand shot Saturday afternoon during a match against Nebraska. Avdeeva lost her Her 1 singles match against Nebraska senior Gitte Ostermann, No. 18 singles player in the nation. 6-0, 6-1 Kansas lost 6-1 the Cornhuskers at Robinson Courts.
Rylan Howe/KANSAN
BY RAHUL SHARMA
rsharma.com kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Though the young Jayhawk team lost overall this weekend, the close tiebreakers proved that it's gaining experience with every match.
The Nebraska tennis team (13-2 overall, 3-2 Big 12) knocked off Kansas, 6-1, at the Robinson Courts on Saturday. The defeat dropped Kansas to 2-9 for the season.
Nebraska set the tone early by winning all three doubles matches. The Cornhuskers are 13-0 this season when earning the doubles point.
"It's a very emotional point," Nebraska coach Scott Jacobson said. "Our team takes great pride in playing emotional doubles."
In the number one doubles match, Nebraska seniors Gitte Ostermann and Katie Garcia ousted Kansas sophomore Brittany Brown and freshman Lauren Hommell, 8-4. Nebraska freshman Imke Reimers and junior Ewelina Skaza defeated Kansas sophomore Ashley Filberth and junior Christine Skoda, 8-5. Filberth and Skoda have dropped their last two matches together and are now 4-3 on the season.
In the third doubles slot Nebraska freshman Ellinor Zugner and junior Milena Schulz-Gartner defeated Kansas junior Luiza Loureiro and freshman Elizaveta Avdeeva, 8-5.
In singles Ostermann continued her display of flawless play on the court, disposing of Avdeeva in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-1.
"She seemed to get it done in a hurry," Jacobson said. "I was proud in the way in which she competed."
Avdeea, who has faced six ranked opponents this season, was unable to find a rhythm as her emotions ran high throughout the course of the match. Her frustration was apparent through her body language and facial expressions.
"I told her that she has to be patient," Hall-Holt said.
"Playing one in the Big 12 is not an easy job. She's a battler. She will come back."
Skoda registered the lone victory for the Jayhawks, as she rallied to defeat Reimers, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (7).
Brown fell to Schulz-Gartner, 0-6. 5-7.
In the number four singles match, Cornhusker Skaza
defeated Hommell in a tough three-set affair, 6-4, 6-7(0), 6-2
Hommell saved four match points in the second set, forcing the set into a tiebreaker. Hommell played near-perfect tennis, sending the match in a third and decisive set.
Junior Pamela Castilejos needed a third set tie breaker to defeat Filberth, 6-2, 6-7(3), 1-0 (3).
Nebraska freshman Ellinor Zugner downed Kansas freshman Stephanie Smith, 6-2, and 6-3.
The layhawks (2-9 overall, 1-2 Big 12) will travel on Friday to Norman, Okla., to take on the Sooners. On Saturday Kansas will face Oklahoma State, in Stillwater.
— Edited by Austin Caster
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