University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota To Meet Arizona In NCAA Tournament
5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
May 1, 2012
The University of Minnesota women's tennis team is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003. The Gophers were one of the 64 teams that received an NCAA bid today.
Minnesota, which is ranked No. 34, will face No. 27 Arizona on May 11 in the first round of the tournament at Cone-Kenfield Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. The winner of the Minnesota-Arizona match will face the winner of the match between host North Carolina and Richmond on May 12.
The Gophers are 16-8 this year, while Arizona is 15-8. North Carolina is 22-5 on the season and is ranked seventh in the nation, while Richmond is 14-4 and unranked.
Arizona was 13-0 at home this year, but was 0-7 on the road. The Wildcats were 2-1 in neutral-site matches, which included a 4-0 win against Illinois in the Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala., on Feb. 26. The Gophers played Illinois twice this year and lost both meetings (6-1 in the regular season and 4-0 in the Big Ten tournament).
In addition to Illinois, Minnesota and Arizona had common opponents this year in N.C. State and Washington. Both schools beat N.C. State (Minnesota 5-2 on the road and Arizona 7-0 at home), while Arizona beat Washington 4-3 at home and the Gophers lost 5-2 to the Huskies at Baseline Tennis Center. Minnesota is 0-2 all-time against Arizona.
Minnesota is making its first trip to the NCAA tournament since it lost 4-3 to Pepperdine on May 9, 2003, in Los Angeles.
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