University of Minnesota Athletics
Ranked Foes Indiana, Purdue Visit Baseline Tennis Center
4/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
April 12, 2012
Having played just two matches at home since Feb. 25, the 31st-ranked Minnesota women's tennis team will play a pair of Big Ten matches at the Baseline Tennis Center this weekend. The Gophers will host No. 47 Indiana on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and No. 34 Purdue on Sunday at noon.
At 3-4, Minnesota is tied for seventh place in the conference while both of this weekend's opponents sit in a tie for fifth at 4-3. The Gophers are 13-5 overall.
Minnesota comes in after dropping its closest conference match of the season last Sunday, a 4-3 decision at Ohio State. Two days prior to that, the Gophers ended a three-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory on the road against Penn State.
The Gophers have been led in singles by juniors Doron Muravnik and Alexa Palen, who are 13-4 and 12-5, respectively, and 11-5 sophomore Natallia Pintusava. Palen is ranked 124th in the country.
In doubles, Minnesota's top pairing combines Pintusava with Magdalena Wiecha. The tandem is ranked 45th by the ITA at 10-2. The duo is 7-2 at No. 1.
Indiana will enter Friday's match with a 15-6 overall record. The Hoosiers' top singles player is No. 65-ranked junior Leslie Hureau, who is 14-4 and has played all but one match at the No. 1 position. Sophomore Kayla Fujimoto is 14-3 and freshman Alecia Kauss is 13-6.
In doubles, Fujimoto and senior Evgeniya Vertesheva are 13-7 and Hureau and Kauss are 10-3.
After traveling to Wisconsin on Friday, Purdue will complete its weekend with a match against the Gophers. Like Minnesota, the 12-4 Boilermakers are five games removed from a nine-match winning streak.
Following its home matches this weekend, the Gophers will finish out the regular season with a road match at No. 17 Nebraska on Apr. 20 and one final home match against Iowa two days later.
All-time, Minnesota is 6-32 against the Hoosiers and 26-14 against the Boilermakers. The Gophers have lost their last two matches against Purdue and has dropped nine straight to Indiana dating back to 2003.
The Big Ten Tournament in Columbus, Ohio is slated to begin on April 26.
