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Minnesota Welcomes Ohio State and Penn State For Senior Day Weekend
4/14/2022 10:30:00 AM | Tennis
Gophers play final home matches against Buckeyes on Friday, Nittany Lions on Sunday
The University of Minnesota tennis team returns to Baseline Tennis Center this weekend for their final pair of home matches of the season. On Friday, the Gophers take on the No. 11 Buckeyes, who sit atop the Big Ten Conference. On Sunday, Penn State will take the court in Minneapolis, as they sit at No. 61, one spot ahead of the Golden Gophers. Minnesota remains ranked in the ITA Top 75 for the eighth consecutive week.
The Gophers will seek their fourth ranked win of the season against Ohio State, and to surpass their 2018 and 2019 win totals of 14. Friday's first serve will be at 3:30 p.m. Minnesota will have the opportunity to move up the standings with the Nittany Lions two spots above them. Penn State will square off with Minnesota for the Gophers' senior day, as the teams meet at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday.
Minnesota looks to continue success against Penn State, as they have won seven of their last ten meetings. They last met in the 2021 Big Ten Tournament, a 4-3 win for Minnesota. The Gophers look for their first win against Ohio State since 2018. The two teams play their 51st match on Friday, splitting the first 50 evenly.
Previous Match
Minnesota played in just one match last weekend, a road loss against Wisconsin. The Gophers jumped out to the lead for the fifth consecutive match, as they secured the doubles point through wins at No. 1 and No. 2. For the second straight match, Minnesota was unable to carry momentum into singles. Rachel Hanford and Emilee Duong earned wins at positions No. 1 and No. 2, but Wisconsin won the remaining four points en route to the narrow victory. Minnesota dropped to 2-5 in the Big Ten, and 14-8 overall.
The Competition
Ohio State is 14-4 on the season, 7-0 in Big Ten matches. Three of their four losses have come against North Carolina schools - North Carolina, NC State, and Duke; each team is in the current ITA top 10. Their most recent match was in West Lafayette, a 4-0 win for the visiting Buckeyes. Ohio State has won the last two meetings against Minnesota, most recently 4-0 in Columbus. The two teams have evenly split the first fifty matches they have played.
Penn State is 10-9 on the year, 4-3 in conference matches. The Nittany Lions have earned wins over Iowa, Michigan State, Indiana, and Illinois. They have won their last two road matches, improving to 6-5 on the year away from State College. Minnesota has won seven of the last ten matches, most recently in the Big Ten tournament last year. The two teams have met 35 times, the Gophers leading the series 26-9.
How to Follow
Streaming and live statistics for the weekend's matches will be available through Gopher Athletics, alongside updates at GopherWTennis Twitter. Recap and Statistics will be posted upon result completion.