University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Gearing up for B1G Tournament
4/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Bracket Big Ten Release Tournament Central
The University of Minnesota Gophers are set to host the Big Ten Tournament this weekend at the Baseline Tennis Center. They will take on Purdue on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Minnesota comes in as the ten seed and just played Purdue last Friday taking a 4-2 loss. The Gophers took the doubles and Ruben Weber topped a ranked opponent but the Purdue was able to take four singles wins and the victory. Marino Alpeza and Justyn Levin both took their matches to third sets and Jeremy Lynn was in a third set when he his match went unfinished.
The young Maroon and Gold squad finished the regular season 8-17 overall and are 2-9 in the B1G. They got stronger towards the end of the season including getting a big win over No. 39 at the time Penn State.
Dynamic Duo
Matic Spec and Felix Corwin have highlighted doubles play for Minnesota ranked No. 30 in the nation with a 10-3 record together including 4-1 at the No. 1 spot in dual match play. They have beat the No. 6 ranked duo of Arjun Kadhe and Julian Cash of Oklahoma State twice this season.
Weber and Alpeza have played 22 doubles matches together this season picking up eight wins together. Jeremy Lynn has partnered up with a number of different partners and has 12 doubles wins on the year.
The Lineup
Spec has had a solid sophomore campaign for the Gophers playing all but one match at the No. 1 spot this dual season. He is 11-10 there and 15-12 overall on the season. He has had the task of playing six ranked opponents this dual match season picking up a big win over No. 75 at the time Jathan Malik. He was named the B1G Athlete of the Week on April 12 for his performance.
Weber has played all but two matches at the No. 2 spot and leads the team in wins with 17 holding a 17-112overall record.
Corwin has been all over the lineup playing 1-5 at different times this season. He has returned to form as of late after missing some time with an injury and is 11-12 overall on the year with two wins over nationally ranked opponents.
The freshmen trio of Levin , Alpeza and Josip Krstanovic have all seen action at spots 3-6 this dual match season. Levin and Alpeza each have 12 wins on the year and Krstanovic who joined the team in January has five victories.
Jeremy Lynn has picked up six wins on the season with four coming at the No. 6 spot.
About Purdue
The Boilermakers moved up to No. 53 in the country after picking up two wins last weekend. They topped the Gophers beat the No. 53 at the time Wisconsin Badgers. They are 16-9 overall with a 6-5 B1G record.
Purdue clinched the doubles point 12 times during the regular season and are 11-1 when winning the point, including six shutouts. No. 44 Gergely Madarasz (19-3, 8-1 B1G) has won 16 of his 19 matches in straight sets
Tournament Info
Four matches highlight Thursday's first round including the Gophers with the third match of the day.
In Friday's quarterfinals, Ohio State will take on the Wisconsin-Nebraska winner, while Northwestern will face the winner of the Purdue-Minnesota match. Illinois will take on the Penn State-Michigan State victor, and Michigan will face the Indiana-Iowa winner.
Thursday and Friday's first round and quarterfinal matches will begin at 9 a.m. CT, while Saturday's semifinals will start at 11 a.m. and Sunday's championship match will begin at Noon.
The event will be free admission for spectators. The tournament will be held on the outdoor courts but will be moved indoors in the case of inclement weather.
BTN will debut coverage of the Big Ten Men's Tennis Tournament will at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 10.
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Players Mentioned
