University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Get Into Heart of B1G Play
3/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
The No. 50 University of Minnesota Gophers get into the heart of Big Ten season starting this weekend. They host Penn State Friday at 3 p.m. and head to No. 2 Ohio State for a match on Sunday at 10 a.m.
"This weekend starts the most exciting part of our season. We have four proud seniors that are going to lead this team through the Big Ten schedule," head coach Chuck Merzbacher said. "We know each match will be a battle. Penn State had one of their best years last year and return almost everyone. Ohio State is having a great year. This will be fun and challenging."
Minnesota dropped their final nonconference match of the regular season 5-2 to San Diego State on Monday. Before that they swept Buffalo 7-0 and beat a tough Iowa State team at the Baseline Tennis Center.
The Gophers are 9-5 on the season and 1-0 in the Big Ten with a win over Wisconsin earlier this season. They went 6-5 in B1G play last season and did not face either the Nittany Lions or the Buckeyes.
The Maroon and Gold have had great success at the Baseline Tennis Center recording an 11-3 record last year and are sitting at 7-1 there so far this season.
Ryba on a Roll
Caroline Ryba has not lost a match in over two weeks winning her past five singles matches all at the No. 1 spot. On March 1 she was named the Big Ten Player of the Week. She moved into the ITA rankings last week sitting at No. 120. She is on a four match doubles win streak with Julia Courter.
The Lineup
The Maroon and Gold have showed depth all season with nine different players having wins ranging from eight to 13.
Ryba and Courter have both played matches at the No. 1 spot. Ryba is 13-6 with a 7-2 dual match record all at the No. 1 spot.
Courter has not lost at No. 1 and is 12-8 this year with ten matches played at the No. 2 spot. She won both her matches last weekend against Buffalo and Iowa State.
Paula Rincon Otero and Annemarie Emme combined for three matches at the No. 2 spot and have not lost there. Rincon has primarily played at No. 3 while Emme has seen action at 2-5 this season. Rincon is 13-6 while Emme is 12-14 this year.
Jessika Mozia is 5-3 at the No. 4 and 3-1 at the No. 5 this year with an 11-8 overall record. She is an impressive 8-4 in dual match play.
Mehvish Safdar and Camila Vargas Gomez have also gotten a match each in at the No. 4 spot. Safdar, Vargas Gomez along with Maja Vujic have all gotten action at No. 5 and Caitlyn Merzbacher, Vargas Gomez, Vujic and Safdar have all won at the No. 6.
Safdar and Vargas Gomez each have 11 wins while Vujic has 10 and Merzbacher has eight.
Doubles Dominance
The Gophers took two more doubles points against Buffalo and Iowa State before losing just their third of the season to San Diego State.
Rincon-Otero and Emme have teamed up at the No. 1 spot and are 7-6 so far this season.
Ryba and Courter have been solid at No. 2 sealing three of the last four doubles points won for the Maroon and Gold. They are 8-1 together with all their matches coming in dual match play.
Merzbacher is 7-3 with Safdar. The two have been the primary duo at the No. 3 spot and were on a three match win streak before dropping a match to SDSU.
About Penn State
The Nittany Lions are 4-6 on the season with one conference loss to Ohio State. Their last time out they won 4-3 over Florida Gulf Coast.
Kimberly Surin is 3-2 at the No. 1 spot this season while Devan McCluskey leads the team in wins with eight. Together McCluseky and Surin are 3-1 in doubles at the No. 1 spot. The duo of Katherine Whiteaway and Jacqueline Zuhse have the most doubles wins together with a 7-13 record.
About No. 2 Ohio State
The Buckeyes are off to a strong start to their season. One of their two losses came at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to No. 1 California in a 4-3 battle. They recently lost 4-2 to No. 12 Miami their last time out.
Francesa Di Lorenzo and Ferny Angeles Paz both have 21 wins this season with Lorenzo holding a 12-3 record at the No. 1 spot. Lorenzo and Olivia Sneed are 15-0 in doubles together this dual match season.
Milestone Watch
Coach Chuck Merzbacher reached 400 career victories with the win over New Mexico at the Courtside Classic this season. Courter is now at 78 career singles wins tied for 11th all-time in Minnesota history while Mozia is 14th all-time with 75 singles victories. Courter's 71 doubles wins has her 16th while Mozia sits with 65 wins and is 21st on the Gopher career doubles win list.
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Players Mentioned
