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Minnesota Prepares for Home and Road Weekend Matches
3/31/2022 11:30:00 AM | Tennis
Gophers host Rutgers on Friday before heading to College Park on Sunday
The University of Minnesota tennis team will play in their first split weekend of the season, playing a home and road match over the course of three days. The Gophers will host Rutgers at Baseline Tennis Center on Friday, before moving east to take on the Maryland Terrapins. Minnesota remains ranked for a sixth consecutive week, as they place at No. 54 in this week's ITA top 75. Maryland and Rutgers come into the weekend matches unranked.
The Gophers take on the Scarlet Knights at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, and oppose Maryland at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. A pair of wins would improve Minnesota's Big Ten record to even, while marking the 15th win on the year.
Previous Match
Minnesota returned to Baseline Tennis Center for a pair of matches against Michigan opponents. On Friday, the No. 26 Wolverines earned the 2-5 victory over the Gophers. Minnesota led after the doubles point, with critical wins at No. 2 and No. 3. In singles, Vasia Karvouni gained her first ranked win of the season, but the team's 0-5 record in tiebreak sets was too big an obstacle to overcome. On Sunday, Minnesota rebounded with their third ranked win of the season, a 4-0 defeat of the No. 70 Michigan State Spartans. The Gophers improved their home record to 7-1, and overall record to 13-6.
The Competition
Rutgers is 5-10 on the year, 0-4 in Big Ten matches. The Scarlet Knights are amidst a five game losing streak, with defeats to Big Ten opponents, Wisconsin, Maryland, Illinois, and Northwestern. Minnesota has squared off against Rutgers nine times throughout the programs' history, the Gophers winning each meeting.
Maryland is 12-3 on the season, 1-2 in Big Ten play. The Terrapins started the season 12-1, compiling a ten game winning streak in the middle of the year. They are 9-0 in College Park, and will look to earn their tenth home win of the season. Their lone Big Ten win came against Minnesota's Friday opponent, Rutgers. The Gophers have won the last four regular season matches between the schools, with Maryland winning the most recent two Big Ten tournament matchups.
How to Follow
Streaming and live statistics for Friday's match will be available on the GopherSports website, alongside updates at GopherWTennis Twitter. Coverage for Sunday's match will be made available through Maryland Athletics. Recap and Statistics will be posted upon result completion.