University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers to Play Twice in Chapel Hill
2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Looking to snap a two-match losing skid, the No. 33 Minnesota men's tennis team will travel to the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. Saturday to play No. 19 North Carolina and The Citadel. The 7-3 Gophers' match against UNC will begin at 9 a.m. CT and they will play the Bulldogs at 2 p.m. CT.
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA
Off to a 9-5 start, No. 19 North Carolina will look to snap a string of four-straight losses (all to top-10 opponents) Saturday. The Tar Heels' lineup boasts five ranked singles players and one top-60 doubles tandem. No. 10-ranked Brayden Schnur is 2-3 at No. 1 singles and No. 27 Ronnie Schneider is 6-4 on the spring, while Brett Clark, Robert Kelly and Jack Murray are a combined 24-5 on the spring and are ranked 81st, 86th and 89th, respectively. At 5-0, Oystein Steiro and Esben Hess-Olesen are No. 34 in doubles.
ABOUT THE CITADEL
The Citadel comes in to Saturday with a 2-12 mark in 2015, notching wins over Spartanburg Methodist and Murray State. Artemie Amari leads the Bulldogs, who have lost six straight, in singles wins with six. Peter Bleach has played nine of the team's 14 matches at the No. 1 position in singles. Bleach and Nick Bradley have started out 4-6 in doubles in dual match play.
ALL-TIME SERIES
All-time, Minnesota is 2-1 versus North Carolina. The Gophers will play The Citadel for the first time ever Saturday.
DOMINANT DOUBLES
The Maroon and Gold's doubles play has been a big part of its hot start. The Gophers have won the doubles competition in nine of 10 matches thus far and have a 19-4 cumulative doubles record on the spring.
GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS
After finishing 2013-14 ranked 54th and opening 2015 at No. 49 in the ITA national rankings, the Gophers moved up to 33rd following a 7-3 start. Individually, Leandro Toledo ranks 30th in singles and the fourth-year doubles duo of Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Froment ranks 41st after upsetting then-No. 12 Jacob Sude and Arjun Kadhe of Oklahoma State to kick off February. They were an NCAA Doubles Tournament alternate pairing a year ago. Toledo and freshman Felix Corwin are 48th after starting the spring 6-0 after a 3-1 fall season.
FRESH IMPACT
Minnesota freshmen Felix Corwin and Matic Spec have combined for a 37-7 record in singles--including a 14-3 mark in the spring--and a 24-8 doubles record. Spec entered the dual match season ranked 107th nationally in singles, while Corwin is No. 117 in singles and No. 58 in doubles when paired with senior Leandro Toledo. Corwin and Toledo have since moved up to 48th.
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 tiebreak 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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Players Mentioned
