Minnesota senior Raoul Schwark, the Golden Gophers’ 2006-07 Most Valuable Player, will open the season as one of the nation’s top 50 tennis players, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

Schwark led the Gophers in both overall and dual-match victories last season and enters the 2007-08 campaign with a national ranking of No. 41 in the ITA preseason singles poll.

Schwark compiled a team-best 21-8 overall singles record last season, including a 16-6 mark in dual-match play, and was named to the 2007 Men’s Tennis All-Big Ten team.

Unranked in singles to start his junior campaign, Schwark ended the season ranked 70th in the nation in singles after being ranked as high as No. 58 earlier in the year. He finished the 2006-07 campaign on a serious roll, winning 13 of his final 15 matches.

Schwark and the Minnesota men’s tennis team open the 2007-08 season this week, when the Gophers travel to Princeton, N.J., to compete in the Princeton Invitational.