The Gophers women’s tennis team kicked off their season with the three-day Gopher Invitational over the weekend, going 23-9 in singles and winning six doubles draws.
The annual Gophers tournament took place at the Baseline Tennis Center, featuring 11 teams in total.
“There’s strong competition out here,” senior Jessika Mozia said on Saturday. “You can’t just dillydally or expect to walk over someone. You have to actually respect yourself and respect them, and that’s by coming out and playing your best game.”
The Gophers were strong in doubles on Friday, with freshmen Camila Vargas Gomez and Annemarie Emme winning two matches. Freshman Caitlyn Merzbacher combined with Mozia to win two matches as well.
Sophomore Mehvish Safdar and junior Maja Vujic went 1-1. Redshirt junior Alexandra Bergman paired with Drake’s Summer Brills to go 1-1.
The Gophers capitalized on their strong first day with a similar performance on day two, going 9-4 in singles.
On the final day, Emme lost in the “B” flight singles championship, coming in second place in her first tournament. Mozia ended up placing third in the “A” flight.
Men finish 3-6 and 5-2 in Arizona
The men’s team travelled to Arizona for the Wildcat Invitational over the weekend and went 3-6 in singles and 5-2 in doubles.
The Gophers went undefeated in doubles through the first day of the tournament, with both of the team’s pairings winning two matches each.
In singles, the Gophers did not fare as well, losing three of their four matches. Senior Ruben Weber was the only Minnesota player to win his singles match Friday, but he too lost on Saturday.
Freshmen Jesse Sprinkel and Justyn Levin advanced to the doubles final, but they were defeated in their last match 8-5.
Levin also was the winner in the singles consolation round for day three.
“I’m not really concerned with the result, to be honest,” head coach Geoff Young said after the tournament. “We came here and watched these guys play, and we’ll see where we are at.”
