starteThe Minnesota women's tennis team defeated Michigan, 5- 2, Friday at the Northwest Athletic Club in Bloomington. The Golden Gophers improve to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten.

Minnesota started the match by sweeping the doubles matches to earn the doubles point. Seniors Tarah Elkins and Sitinee Rangsithienchai won their seventh straight match at the No. 2 position, defeating Brooke Hart and Szandra Fuzesi, 8-6.

Rangsithienchai and junior Nora Sauska each won in singles, putting the Gophers up 3-0. Sauska defeated Brooke Hart, 6-1, 6-0, while Rangsithienchai defeated Jen Boylan, 6-2, 6-0.

Sophomore Tammy Wang sealed the victory for Minnesota by defeating Alison Sinclair, 6-2, 7-5. Wang improves to 7-0 on the season and 3-0 in dual matches. Junior Kim Simonsen added a win at No. 2 singles, defeating Danielle Lund in three sets, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

Minnesota will host Michigan State on Sunday at 10 a.m. That match will be played outdoors at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul or indoors at the Northwest Athletic Club, depending on the weather. Call the Diet Coke Gopher Sports Hotline at 612-626-7827 on Sunday for the match location.

Singles
No. 1 - Nora Sauska, Gophers, def. Brooke Hart, Michigan, 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 - Kim Simonsen, Gophers, def. Danielle Lund, Michigan, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
No. 3 - Sitinee Rangsithienchai, Gophers, def. Jen Boylan, Michigan, 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 - Szandra Fuzesi, Michigan, def. Tarah Elkins, Gophers, 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 - Jen Vaughn, Michigan, def. Jana Hrdinova, Gophers, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6
No. 6 - Tammy Wang, Gophers, def. Alison Sinclair, Michigan, 6-2, 7-5

Doubles
No. 1 - Simonsen/Hrdinova def. Boylan/Lund 8-5
No. 2 - Elkins/Rangsithienchai def. Hart/Fuzesi 8-6
No. 3 - Sauska/Howard def. Vaughn/Sinclair 8-4

Minnesota 12-5 overall, 5-2 Big Ten