University of Minnesota Athletics
Women's Tennis 2009-10: Season in Review
5/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Against one of its toughest schedules in recent history, Minnesota played a season full of tight matches in finishing 10-14 overall and 3-7 in Big Ten play. The Gophers spent the entire season in the national rankings themselves and played 10 matches decided by 4-3 scores.
Minnesota had a successful fall season that included individual titles by Tijana Koprivica and Alexa Palen at the Gopher Invitational. The Gophers also opened the spring season 6-2 and then began Big Ten play by beating Iowa, which spent much of the season in the national top 25. Minnesota played 10 matches against teams that reached the NCAA tournament, beating Iowa and Wichita State. The Gophers closed the regular season with five straight losses, including three one-point matches, before losing to Wisconsin in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.
Koprivica ended her career among the school's all-time leaders in wins, ranking fourth all-time with 92 singles victories and 10th with 78 doubles victories. Fellow senior Jackie Sperling also concluded a successful career with 45 singles wins and 50 doubles victories.
Junior Alessandra Ferrazzi led the team with 24 singles wins and 21 doubles wins while earning All-Big Ten accolades and the team's Most Valuable Player Award. Ferrazzi will be one of four seniors returning for the 2010-11 season. The Gophers also had two freshmen in their regular lineup in Alexa Palen and Doron Muravnik. Palen won 17 singles matches and tied for the team's lead with 21 doubles wins while beating two nationally-ranked singles players.
The Gophers had another outstanding year off the court as well, winning the school's academic award for small women's sports teams for the second straight year with a cumulative 3.5 team grade point average. Eight of Minnesota's players earned scholar athlete honors by carrying at least a 3.0 cumulative grade point average through the fall semester.
Players Mentioned
