Feb. 10, 2012

Season Stats l 2012 Schedule

Live Video of Arizona, DePaul Matches l Live Scoring of Arizona, DePaul Matches

After three straight road matches against ranked opponents, the Minnesota men’s tennis team will host Arizona and DePaul this weekend at home. The Gophers play Arizona at 4 p.m. on Saturday and DePaul at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The 1-3 Gophers are ranked No. 34 in the latest ITA rankings. Minnesota began the year with a 7-0 win against Marquette on Jan. 21, but then lost three straight matches to ranked foes San Diego, LSU and Louisville. The San Diego and LSU matches were part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event.

Minnesota is 1-0 this year at Baseline Tennis Center after going 8-2 at home a year ago. Arizona heads to the Minneapolis ranked 61st, while DePaul was ranked 73rd last week but fell out of the rankings this week.

The Wildcats are 3-1 this year with wins against Northern Arizona, Sacramento State and San Francisco. Their lone loss, a 6-1 setback, came last week to then-No. 51 Cal Poly.  

This will be the fifth meeting all-time between Minnesota and Arizona. The Gophers lead the overall series 3-1, but Arizona won the last meeting, 6-1, on Feb. 7, 2008, at the Wildcats’ LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.

DePaul is 6-3 this year and comes to Minnesota after beating Iowa 4-3 last week. The win snapped a two-match losing streak. The Blue Demons also has a 4-3 win against Big Ten opponent Purdue this year.

The Gophers are off next weekend, before opening Big Ten play against Wisconsin at home at 12 p.m. on Feb. 25.