University of Minnesota Athletics
Road Weary Gophers Eager for Weekend Matches
3/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
It’s finally back home for the Minnesota women’s tennis team as the Gophers host a pair of Big Ten opponents at the Baseline Tennis Center on Friday and Sunday.
The Gophers have played their past six matches on the road and went 3-3 during the span to run their season record to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. Minnesota played four matches in a span of six days last week, splitting two matches in Charleston, S.C. before halving a pair of Big Ten contests at Michigan and Michigan State over the weekend. The Gophers lost to Michigan 5-2 and beat Michigan State 6-1.
Minnesota is ranked 64th in this week’s rankings and has seen plenty of hot play recently from junior Tijana Koprivica, who went 4-0 in singles and 3-1 in doubles last week. Koprivica has lost once in 12 dual match contests and is now 19-8 overall.
Karina Chiarelli and Alessandra Ferrazzi have both had solid seasons in singles and have combined to form a stellar doubles team recently, winning all six of their matches recently. Koprivica and Niltooli Wilkins have also been a solid tandem with a 7-3 mark in dual matches.
Penn State is 3-10 overall and 0-2 in the league. Ohio State is ranked 41st in the country and is 9-6 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten. Friday’s match with the Nittany Lions starts at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday’s match with Ohio State is at 11 a.m.
