University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Start 2016 at Home
1/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Match Day Program Live Scoring
The University of Minnesota Gophers begins their 2016 spring season with home matches this Saturday, January 16, against DePaul at 11 a.m. and South Dakota State at 4 p.m.
The Maroon and Gold are coming off a Big Ten Championship season where they went 21-8 overall and 10-1 in the conference. They also had the Big Ten Coach of the Year in Geoff Young, Big Ten Player of the Year in Leandro Toldeo and Big Ten Freshman of the Year in Matic Spec. The team went on to add four ITA regional honors. Toledo was the ITA Central Region Most Improved Senior Player of the Year, while Spec was the region's rookie of the year. Young added the a Region Coach of the Year plaudit and associate head coach Urban Ljubic was named the ITA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
The Gophers enter the season ranked No. 23 in the nation, according to the ITA. They are led by senior Ruben Weber with a 95 ranking in singles and Felix Corwin who starts the season ranked 101. The doubles tandem of Corwin and fellow sophomore Matic Spec are ranked No. 20 in doubles which is the highest ranking of any Big Ten doubles tandem to start the season.
"After all the hard work we have put in, season is finally here," Weber said. "We cannot wait to see the results on the court and to finally compete as a team again."
About DePaul
DePaul finished last season 12-12 overall while going 3-2 in the Big East. The Blue Demons have eight returnees from the 2014-15 season, including BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Alex Galoustian. The now sophomore finished his first collegiate campaign with the best singles record on the squad, going 19-3.
The Gophers last played DePaul in 2012 winning 5-2 and have won the only two meetings between the teams. Felix Corwin's brother Tim is a junior for DePaul.
About South Dakota State
Last year, the Jackrabbits finished 14-10 overall and 3-3 in The Summit League. They return three of their six starters from a season ago. They are picked to finish third in their conference this season. Senior Lovro Curcija is expected to move from No. 4 singles to No. 1, two-time all-league honoree senior Henrique Pereira returns at No. 2 and senior Mateus Moreira is back at No. 5.
These two team's faced off in the first weekend of spring play last season with the Gophers coming out on top 7-0. That was the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Fall Recap
The highlight of the fall was the combination of Corwin and Spec in doubles and the strong singles play of Weber.
The sophomores came into the fall only having completed one doubles match together but showed great chemistry winning five straight matches at the ITA Central Regional knocking off the now No. 9 ranked doubles team in the nation, Arjun Kadhe and Julian Cash of Oklahoma State. They went on to play at the ITA National Indoor Championships held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. The duo picked up one win there to finish the fall 6-2.
Freshman Justyn Levin and Jesse Sprinkel showed early signs of being a strong doubles team advancing to finals in their bracket at the Wildcat Invitational. They finished the fall 3-2 together.
Weber picked up four wins in singles play at the Lakewood Invitational this fall winning second place. He finished the fall 7-3 to lead the Gophers. Corwin went 5-2 in singles, Levin 5-4 and freshman Marino Alpeza finished 4-4 to round out the top singles performances of the fall.
Welcome to Minnesota
Josip Krstanovic joins the Maroon and Gold roster for the spring season out of Zagreb, Croatia. To get to know Josip better check out a First Serve Q and A with him here.
Looking Ahead
Up next Minnesota will head to the ITA Kickoff competing against some of the top teams in the nation. They play Columbia at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23 and depending on the outcomes will play either Stanford or Virginia Tech on Sunday, Jan. 24.
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 be followed by six singles matches (best two of three sets--tie-breaks at six-all). Each singles match is worth one team point.
Following the Gophers?
Don't forget to follow the team on social media @GopherMTennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest news, features, pictures and videos. We will be live tweeting Saturday's matches.
Players Mentioned
