University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Ready for Border Battle Rematch
4/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Big Ten Release Bracket
The University of Minnesota Gophers made the Big Ten Tournament and will be the first match taking on Wisconsin Thursday at 9 a.m. at the Michigan State Tennis Facilities.
The Gophers made the field of ten after finishing the regular season with a 13-10 overall record and a 5-6 conference record. They topped the Badgers earlier this season in Wisconsin with a 5-2 victory.
Last year the Gophers won one match in the B1G Tournament, 4-1 over Michigan State before falling to Michigan.
The Lineup
Caroline Ryba has played all but three matches at the No. 1 spot and holds an 11-8 record there. She is 17-12 on the season and finished the regular season by securing the Gophers victory over Rutgers.
Both Julia Courter and Paula Rincon-Otero have seen action at the No. 2 spot. Courter is 13-9 in dual match play with a 16-13 overall record. Rincon-Otero has the most wins on the team with a 19-10 record. She has a three match win streak coming into the weekend, is 6-3 at the No. 2 spot and 8-5 at No. 3.
Jessika Mozia has played the majority of her matches at No. 4 with Annemarie Emme, Mehvish Safdar and Camila Vargas Gomez all getting at least a match there as well. Mozia is 9-12 this dual match season. She is 3-1 when playing at the No. 5 spot.
Emme has played all over the lineup but has seen the most matches at No. 5 and has a 16-20 overall record.
Vargas Gomez has been on fire as of late mostly playing at the No. 6 spot winning the last four of five holding a 17-13 overall record.
Safdar is 11-7, Maja Vujic is 10-5 and Caitlyn Merzbacher is 8-6 to round out players who have seen action this spring.
Doubles
The Maroon and Gold stayed consistent in their doubles lineup throughout the season but changed it up last weekend. Rincon-Otero and Emme have played at No. 1 and are looking back to form when they won their first seven of nine matches played together. This weekend Rincon will team up with Courter there.
Ryba and Courter have been the strongest pair with a 13-4 record all in dual match season with a 9-4 record at No. 2 and a perfect 4-0 at the No. 3 spot. Ryba will pair up with Emme tomorrow.
Safdar and Merzbacher round out the doubles lineup and are 12-8 together.
Tourney Info
There will be two matches Thursday including the Gophers/Badgers dual. Friday, Illinois will take on Maryland, while Michigan will face Purdue. Ohio State will take on the Minnesota-Wisconsin winner, while Northwestern will face the winner of the Indiana-Michigan State match.
Friday's quarterfinal matches and Saturday's semifinals will begin at 10 a.m. First serve for Sunday's championship match is set for Noon.
BTN will debut coverage of the Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament will at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 10.
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Players Mentioned
