University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Announce 2016-2017 Schedule
8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
2016-2017 SCHEDULE
Head coach Chuck Merzbacher announced the 2016-2017 team schedule on Thursday. Baseline Tennis Center will host four tournaments and 11 home matches over fall 2016 and spring 2017.
Last season the Gophers had a 13-12 overall record and went 5-6 in the Big Ten Conference. They were strong at home matches, going 10-3 at Baseline. The Golden Gophers fell in the Big Ten Tournament to end the season. Last season was the third straight year that the Gophers finished in the top half of the conference.
"We are excited about this challenging and balanced schedule. As always the schedule is set up to qualify for the NCAAs." Merzbacher said, "Our players will have the opportunity to line-up against the best teams nationally and of course, the always tough Big Ten Conference."
The season begins with the Gopher Invitational from Sept. 22-25. The invite will have individuals from 13 different schools competing in the tournament.
Following the Gopher Invitational, the top team members will travel to Pacific Palisades, Cal. for the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships. The tournament will take place Oct. 1-9. They will be back playing in Minnesota for the USTA/ITA Central Region Championships hosted by Baseline Oct. 13-17.
Fall season will end with the Kitty Harrison Invite that takes place on Nov. 4-6 at Chapel Hill, N.C. If any players qualify for the USTA/ITA Indoors that will take place on Nov. 3-6 in Flushing, N.Y.
The Upper Midwest Intercollegiate tournament starts off the spring season Jan. 15-16. The maroon and gold will play seven ranked teams over the spring.
The Gophers will stay at Baseline on Jan. 21 as they host Northern Illinois and South Dakota State. The first road match of the spring season will see the Gophers traveling to Huntington, W. Va. to take on Marshall.
The Courtside Classic will take place once again at Baseline on Feb. 4-5. Dartmouth, DePaul and Washington State will all travel to Minneapolis to compete in the tournament.
Minnesota will host Missouri on Feb. 17, and then play Memphis for the first time in program history. Following the match versus the Tigers, South Dakota will come to compete at Baseline on Feb. 19. They will then hit the road as they travel to Mississippi State Feb. 22 then play Marquette and UW-Milwaukee on Feb. 25 in Milwaukee, Wis.
The border battle versus Wisconsin is slated for noon on March 4 at Baseline. Last season the maroon and gold defeated Wisconsin 5-2 in Madison, marking the fifth straight regular season victory over the rivals from across the border. Following the bout with the Badgers, the Gophers head to Albuquerque, N.M. to take on New Mexico on March 12.
The second half of the season will see a string of conference matches starting on March 17 at Penn State. The Gophers are 22-6 all-time versus the Nittany Lions. Ohio State comes to Baseline March 19 followed by Nebraska on March 25, and Iowa on March 26.
April 1 kicks off a three match road stretch as the Gophers invade East Lansing to take on Michigan State who they defeated 5-2 last season. After going against the Spartans, the team will head to Ann Arbor on April 2 to take on Michigan. On April 8 the maroon and gold take a break of conference play and head to Oklahoma to compete against Tulsa.
On April 14 Purdue comes to Baseline to begin the final stretch of conference matches. A couple of days later, on April 16, Indiana comes to Minneapolis. The last two matches will be on the east coast, first at Maryland on March 21 and then at Rutgers on March 23.
The Big Ten Tournament will be held in Champaign, Ill. on April 27-30 and if the team qualifies, the NCAA Regionals will be May 12-14. The NCAA Finals will be in Athens, Ga. on May 18-29.
NOTES: Senior Maja Vujic was named 2016 team captain while juniors Mehvish Safdar and Caroline Ryba were named assistant captains.
