University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota women's tennis set to host Gopher Invitational
9/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
The Minnesota women’s tennis team opens its 2007-08 season this weekend as host of the 2007 Gopher Invitational. The tournament will take place Friday through Sunday, Sept. 14-16, at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus. In addition to Minnesota, the field for the 2007 Gopher Invitational includes squads from Louisiana State, Iowa State, Northern Iowa University, Eastern Michigan, South Dakota State and Gustavus Adolphus.
Play begins at 9 a.m., each day of the tournament. Results will be available on www.gophersports.com at the conclusion of each day’s play.
Minnesota is led by seventh-year head coach Tyler Thompson. The Gophers return 10 players for the 2007-08 campaign, including seven who appeared in Minnesota’s dual-match lineup last season.
Sophomore Tajana Koprivica and seniors Danielle Mousseau and Lindsay Risebrough return with the most match experience. Koprivica posted a 23-13 overall record during 2006-07, including a 12-10 dual match mark, and played primarily in the Gophers’ No. 2 position. Mousseau logged a 17-16 record last season and saw extensive action at the No. 3 spot in the lineup, while Risebrough went 13-14 a year ago, with most of her dual match experience coming in the No. 4 slot.
The 2006-07 edition of Golden Gopher women’s tennis witnessed a promising start, a trying middle portion of the season, a solid close to the year that included a number of strong individual performances.
After opening the season with a 2-2 record against strong non-conference opponents, Minnesota went 5-2 from Feb. 16 to March 12. From there, the Golden Gophers lost four straight to finish the non-conference season and begin the Big Ten schedule.
The Gophers snapped out of the slump with a pair of conference wins against Penn State and Michigan State. The Maroon and Gold then finished up the 2007 regular season with a 2-2 record, posting wins over Wisconsin and Illinois.
As host of the 2007 Big Ten Championship at the Baseline Tennis Center, seventh-seeded Minnesota cruised in the first round with a 4-0 win over Illinois to advance to the quarterfinals. Against No. 2 seed Indiana, the Golden Gopher lost at 4-2 match in dramatic fashion. Minnesota trailed 3-0 before mounting a comeback to get within one game at No. 4 singles of tying the dual at 3-3. The 25th-ranked Hoosiers shattered Minnesota's comeback effort, however, with a three-set win.
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