University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota to Face Top-50 Foes on Road
4/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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The No. 29-ranked Minnesota tennis team, a winner of six of its last seven matches, will hit the road to face 11th-ranked Ohio State and No. 49 Penn State this week. The Gophers play the Buckeyes Friday at 4 p.m. CT and will cap the weekend versus the Nittany Lions Sunday at 11 a.m. CT. The Maroon and Gold is 5-0 thus far in Big Ten play.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State, coming off its first Big Ten loss since 2005 last week against Illinois, is 16-7 on the season with a 4-1 league mark. The Buckeyes have four ranked singles players in No. 32 Mikael Torpegaard, No. 44 Chris Diaz, No. 83 Ralf Steinbach and No. 116 Herkko Pollanen. Diaz and Torpegaard have both played at No. 1. In doubles, OSU's lineup is headlined by No. 5-ranked Steinbach and Kevin Metka. Diaz and Hunter Callahan are No. 55 together, while Torpegaard and Pollanen are 74th as a tandem.
ABOUT THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State, which plays Wisconsin Friday before hosting Minnesota, goes into the weekend with a 9-12 record and a 1-4 record in conference action. Despite a losing overall record, the Nittany Lions are 5-3 at home. In singles play, PSU is led by First Team All-Big Ten junior and Oklahoma transfer Leonard Stakhovsky and sophomore Alex Fennell. Both players have played at No. 1. Stakhovsky and Aws Laaribi have been used most often as the team's top doubles tandem, going 6-7 at the position.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Entering the weekend, the Gophers are 40-28 against Ohio State, but have dropped the teams' last 14 matches, last beating the Buckeyes in 2003. Minnesota is 19-5 against Penn State all-time and had won its last five matches against the Nittany Lions before PSU took a 4-1 decision last season.
HOME AND AWAY
The Baseline Tennis Center has not been an easy place to play for visitors. In the eight-plus seasons under Geoff Young, the Gophers are 69-25 at home, good for a .734 winning percentage. Since the current senior class arrived on campus, Minnesota has a home record of 34-7 (.829 winning percentage) that includes a 10-0 ledger this season. On the road, the Maroon and Gold is 2-4 this season. It won its last match away from home two weeks ago against Nebraska.
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
With a win last Sunday over then-No. 39 Indiana, Gophers improved to 8-5 against ranked foes on the season. All five of its losses have come against top-25 teams.
DOMINATING IN DOUBLES
Fueling Minnesota's 14-5 start has been its success in doubles. The Gophers have won the doubles competition in 16 of its first 19 matches and have a 33-11 cumulative doubles record on the spring. No. 49-ranked Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Froment have combined to be the primary tandem at the No. 1 position, going 7-6. No. 76 Leandro Toledo and Felix Corwin are 11-1 on the spring and are 14-2 overall as a duo, while Eric Frueh and Matic Spec are 9-4 in dual matches.
GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS
After finishing 2013-14 ranked 54th and opening 2015 at No. 49 in the ITA national rankings, the Gophers are 29th after starting 14-5 with a challenging schedule that has featured 13 ranked opponents. Individually, 2014 All-American Leandro Toledo ranks 25th in singles and 76th in doubles alongside freshman Felix Corwin. Seniors Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Froment are No. 49 together in doubles. Freshman Matic Spec started the season ranked 107th in singles and dropped out of the top-125, but is now at No. 104 following a 15-2 start.
FRESHMAN IMPACT
Minnesota freshmen Felix Corwin and Matic Spec have combined for a 48-8 record in singles--including a 28-4 mark in the spring--and a 33-12 doubles record. Spec entered the dual match season ranked 107th nationally in singles and is now No. 104, while Corwin was No. 117 in singles and is currently No. 76 in doubles when paired with senior Leandro Toledo. Corwin and Toledo were once as high as 48th.
HOW THE SCORING WORKS
Three doubles matches will be played to begin the dual. Each match is an eight-game pro-set with traditional (ad) scoring and a tiebreak at seven-all. The team to earn at least two doubles wins earns one team point. Doubles play will be followed by six singles matches (best two of three sets with tiebreakers at six-all). Each singles match is worth one team point.
Players Mentioned
