University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Start Big Ten Stretch Run at Home
3/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
A stretch of nine straight Big Ten matches starts this weekend as Minnesota hosts Michigan State and Michigan at the Baseline Tennis Center.
Minnesota will face Michigan State on Friday at 6 p.m. and then host sixth-ranked Michigan on Sunday at noon. The Gophers won their Big Ten opener on Feb. 26 over Iowa, which is currently ranked 18th nationally.
The Gophers are ranked 54th in the country and bring an 8-6 overall record into the weekend after a pair of tight losses in California last week. The trip was indicative of Minnesota's entire season as seven of the Gophers' 14 matches have been settled by 4-3 scores. Minnesota has won four of those seven one-point contests.
Magdalena Wiecha won both of her singles matches on the spring trip and has won three straight matches to take a 13-10 overall record into the weekend. In fact, Wiecha has won nine of her last 11 matches overall. Alessandra Ferrazzi also had two wins in California and has won 11 of her last 14 outings to push her season record to 20-9.
Despite the two recent losses, Minnesota won the doubles point in each match and has a 27-15 combined doubles record during the spring season. Doron Muravnik and Mariana Spilca have teamed for a team-best 7-3 doubles mark this spring.
Michigan State snapped a four-match losing streak with a 4-3 win over Eastern Michigan on Sunday to run its season record to 6-8. The Spartans lost their Big Ten opener 7-0 to Michigan on Saturday. Amy Barton and Whitney Wilson are 8-0 at No. 2 doubles this spring.
Michigan has won five straight matches and owns a 10-3 overall record. The Wolverines have victories over highly-ranked foes Baylor and Miami (Fla.). Their three losses are all to teams currently in the top 10 in Notre Dame, Florida and Duke. Denise Muresan is the team's only ranked player at No. 26.
Minnesota beat Michigan State 6-1 last year and leads the all-time series 22-13. The Gophers lost to Michigan 5-2 last season and have lost six straight to the Wolverines, who lead the all-time series 21-15.
