April 18, 2002

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Kansas State tennis team (10-8) closes the book on the 2002 regular season this weekend when it travels to Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday for a 10 a.m. match with No. 66 Nebraska (13-7) at the Cather Pound Courts. At stake for the Wildcats is the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Big 12 Tennis Tournament.

The No. 51 Wildcats are tied with No. 42 Oklahoma State for fifth place in the league with 5-5 records. A K-State win would move the 'Cats to 6-5 and a loss for the Cowgirls at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday would give Kansas State the No. 5 seed. Should OSU beat the Lady Raiders, who upset then-No. 28 Baylor last weekend, Oklahoma State would receive the fifth seed by virtue of its 4-3 victory in Manhattan on April 3.

Kansas State enters the weekend on a two-match losing streak after losing to No. 27 Texas A&M and No. 10 Texas last weekend. Nebraska has lost two of its last three matches, including a 5-2 loss to then-No. 30 Kansas on April 14.

Nebraska leads the series with Kansas State, 21-7. The teams have split the last six meetings, with the Wildcats beating the Cornhuskers, 4-3, in their last match on April 1, 2001 in Manhattan. K-State will be looking for its first win in Lincoln since 1998 when the 'Cats beat NU 5-4 on April 18. KSU has a 2-11 record in Lincoln.

The K-State No. 1 doubles team is the hottest duo in the conference. Senior Alena Jecminkova and freshman Andrea Cooper knocked off two ranked teams last weekend in No. 18 Texas A&M and No. 22 Texas. The pair has won five of its last six matches and sports records of 11-7 in dual matches, 7-3 in the Big 12 and 19-13 overall.

Junior Petra Sedlmajerova is currently on a four-match winning streak after picking up a pair of victories this past weekend. She is 11-4 in dual matches, 7-3 in the league and 17-10 overall at No. 3 singles.

The tandem of seniors in Katarina Balan and Amy Frisch leads Nebraska. Balan has a team-leading 14-4 dual record at No. 4 singles and a 5-4 Big 12 mark. Frisch is 11-8 in dual matches and 3-6 in league play at No. 2 singles.