GopheThe University of Minnesota women's tennis team opens the spring portion of the 2003-04 season this weekend at the Baseline Tennis Center with the Minnesota Court Classic. The 40th-ranked Golden Gophers host No. 14 William & Mary, No. 29 Georgia Tech and No. 75 Rice. William & Mary and GT square off at 11 a.m., on Saturday, followed by the Golden Gophers vs. Rice at 3 p.m. The losers of Saturday's matches compete for third place at 9 a.m., on Sunday, while the championship match starts at 1 p.m.

Minnesota is the fifth-highest ranked Big Ten team in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, behind No. 8 Northwestern, No. 24 Illinois, No. 34 Michigan and No. 36 Indiana. Last season, the Golden Gophers completed the greatest one-year turnaround in program history, finishing with an 18-7 record, including a 9-1 mark in the Big Ten to claim their first regular season conference championship. Minnesota went 6-16 during the 2001-02 season.

This year's Minnesota Court Classic features several nationally-ranked singles and doubles players. In singles, Rice's Lauren Archer is listed 51st, with Candace Fuchs of William & Mary at No. 57, Megan Muth of W&M at No. 76 and GT's Kelly Anderson at No. 99. In doubles, W&M's Muth and Amy Wei leads the field at No. 11, followed by Minnesota's A ngela Buergis and Ni schela Reddy at No. 26, and W&M's Fuchs and Kate Boomershine at No. 27.

For results from this weekend's matches, log onto www.gophersports.com