University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Open 2015 With Two Matches
1/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Live Scoring | Match Day Program
The Minnesota men's tennis team will open its 2015 season this Saturday with a pair of dual matches at the Baseline Tennis Center. The Gophers will begin with a noon CT meeting with Marquette before finishing the day with a 6 p.m. CT clash with South Dakota State.
FRESH START
Entering the season with a No. 49 national ranking, Minnesota will look to rebound from its first season without an NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008. With a strong core of returning players, including five seniors and a pair of talented freshmen, the Gophers are primed to do just that. Current student assistant coach Juan Pablo Ramirez was the lone senior lost from last year's team.
Leading the returnees is senior Leandro Toledo, a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection. In total, the Gophers get back 90.9 percent (80 of 88) of their 2013-14 singles wins, including all six players who played at least one match at position Nos. 1 through 4.
ABOUT MARQUETTE
Marquette begins its season Saturday against Minnesota. Last season, the Golden Eagles went 16-9, including an 11-0 record at home, and reached the Big East tournament's semifinal round. MU lost key 2014 seniors Dan Mamalat and Logon Collins, but returns its primary No. 2 singles player from a year ago in Vukasin Teofanovic, as well as Nick Dykema, who led the team in overall singles wins with 27.
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
South Dakota State returns its entire roster in 2015 after posting a 16-8 record last season. Andrea Boglic was slotted at the top singles position for 18 matches, going 6-12, while Parker Lawley played at both No. 1 and No. 2. Together, Boglic and Lawley were the Jackrabbits' top doubles tandem, going 12-7 together.
AGAINST SATURDAY'S OPPONENTS
All-time, Minnesota is 7-0 against Marquette after earning a 4-1 victory against the Golden Eagles at the Baseline Tennis Center last season. The Gophers have never played South Dakota State.
IN THE RANKINGS
After finishing 2013-14 ranked 54th, Minnesota opens 2015 at No. 49 in the ITA national rankings. Individually, 2014 All-American Leandro Toledo ranks 17th in singles and 58th in doubles alongside freshman Felix Corwin. Following an 11-1 fall that included a Big Ten Indoor Championships singles title, Corwin is No. 117 in singles, while fellow newcomer Matic Spec is No. 107. Spec was 2-0 against ranked opponents in the fall season.
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Seventeen of the Gophers' 24 matches last season came against teams that were ranked at the time of the match. Minnesota went 7-10 versus ranked foes and 4-3 against unranked teams. Against the seven teams they played that finished the season unranked, the Gophers went 6-1. Minnesota players won 11 of 22 singles matches against ranked opponents (including a 9-5 mark by Leandro Toledo) and won three of nine matches against ranked doubles pairings (led by a 3-3 ledger from Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Froment).
HOW THE SCORING WORKS
No-ad scoring will be used in both singles and doubles. Three doubles matches will be played to begin the dual. Each match is one set to six, with a tie-break at six-all. The first team to earn two doubles wins earns one team point. Doubles play will followed by six singles matches (best two of three sets--tie-breaks at six-all). Each singles match is worth one team point.
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