COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland women's tennis team will travel to Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers at noon Friday before heading home to host No. 13 Michigan Sunday at noon.
The Terps rose to No. 43, the highest spot in head coach Daria Panova's tenure, in the latest ITA team rankings released Tuesday.
Armed with that ranking, the Terps (7-4) will take on two ranked Big Ten squads. No. 61 Nebraska enters Friday's showdown with an 11-2 record after a 5-1 loss to then-No. 29 Purdue. Nebraska has a 53-21 overall record in singles this season and Spurti Shivalingaiah has an 11-2 record at the No. 4 spot.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Nebraska and Maryland.
Michigan is a Big Ten-high No. 13 in the nation. The Wolverines boast three ranked singles players: Ronit Yurovsky (19), Emina Bektas (21) and Sarah Lee (124). Bektas and Alex Najarian are the 14th-ranked doubles team in the nation while Lee and Yurovsky are No. 64.
Michigan has won five straight Big Ten titles and has gone 51-2 in conference matches over that time. The Wolverines went 11-0 in conference play last season.
Sophomore Alexandra Stanova, an All-ACC selection last season, has performed well for the Terps at the top of the singles lineup. Stanova has won three out of her last five matches after a tough start to the season.
Stanova is backed up at the top of the lineup by freshman Ekaterina Tour at No. 2. Tour is 5-4 so far this year and has played well against tough competition. Junior Nataliya Bredikhina, who flipped spots with Tour midway through the season, is 5-1 since debuting at No. 3.
The Terps have also recieved nice production from the back end of the lineup. Senior Welma Luus has captured six straight matches, five at the No. 4 spot. Junior Olga Bredikhina is 7-1 this season switching between No. 5 and No. 6, while Kristina Hovsepyan has also been productive.
Sophomore Olivia Gaudreault has picked up two wins in her three times in the lineup at No. 6.
Maryland has also used the double point to jump ahead in matches, winning the opening tally in the last four matches.
