NU’s Geibert on track to break career wins record

In 2007, Nebraska offered a scholarship to the 63rd-ranked German tennis player in hopes of solidifying a commitment — a commitment that would give coach Scott Jacobson his highest-ranked German player in program history.

Five years later, Madeleine Geibert — the once highly-touted foreign recruit — is now a crucial part of a Husker squad looking to build on a six-match winning streak and crack the Top 25.

Geibert, a senior from Ludwigshafen, Germany, is currently third on Nebraska's career combined wins list. Her 160 career wins have her four victories behind Imke Reimers and 12 wins behind the current leader Sandra Noetzel.

She is on track to break Noetzel's record by late March or early April if she continues to stay hot in her dominant spring campaign.

However, she won't have to wait until then to reach her next milestone. As the Nebraska women's tennis team prepares for Friday and Sunday matches against Wichita State and Colorado State, Geibert will have an opportunity to move up to No. 2 on the list.

That is, of course, if she wins both doubles and singles matches. Since losing her first two singles matches this spring, Geibert has since gone on to win six straight.

"What makes it even more impressive is that she's accomplished all of this at the top of the doubles and singles lineups," said teammate and team captain Mary Weatherholt. "She gets every team's top players."

For instance, the Huskers squared off against No. 9 Northwestern in the Jan. 29 Kickoff Classic. The Wildcats' doubles team is currently the sixth-ranked doubles team in the nation, but that didn't stop Geibert and partner Stefanie Weinstein from upsetting the glorified duo 9-7.

This spring, Geibert and Weinstein have become one of the more lethal combinations in the nation. Thus far, the 22nd-ranked duo remains unbeaten with an 8-0 record, an accomplishment that Geibert attributes to years of playing with each other.

"I always enjoy playing doubles with Steffi," she said. "She is very funny. It is one of the best feelings in doubles, when your partner knows already where you run or where you play the ball."

In many ways, the successes of No. 28 Nebraska (7-1) can be attributed to the contributions of the Geibert/Weinstein pairing.

"Having those two is very encouraging for the team," Weatherholt said. "They've played together for a long time, and to know that our No. 1 team is probably better than theirs, that's a huge psychological advantage for the rest of the team."

While four weekend victories will ascend Geibert to No. 2 on the career combined wins list, it doesn't come as a surprise to her teammates.

"She's been a huge factor to the team's success since she arrived here," Weatherholt said. "She is a humble, natural-born leader. Nobody is surprised the least bit."

Well, almost nobody. When Geibert was asked what it would mean to her to break the record, she responded with a puzzled look on her face,

"I had no idea," she said.

jcreid@dailynebraskan.com