The paring of redshirt senior Julia Courter and senior Paula Rincon-Otero finished 0-2 in doubles, while sophomore Caroline Ryba went 1-1 in singles for the Gophers at the All-American Championships that concluded on Oct. 8 for Minnesota.
“All of the singles and the doubles matches that the girls played were all very close matches,” associate head coach Whitney Taney said after the tournament. “I was proud of the girls as well for the way they competed and the way they left it all out on the court.”
The doubles team lost in their first match to Ellen Perez and Mariana Gould of the University of Georgia. The pair then was defeated in the consolation bracket the following day.
“That main draw match I thought we played really well,” said Courter of the match against Georgia. “They’re a really good team. Paula and I haven’t played together a lot, so we just kind of have to get used to playing together again. We stuck in the match very well.”
Caroline Ryba went 1-1 in the singles, losing to Marie Norris of Texas Christian University in the second round of the tournament.
“It’s a great experience for the girls, and they’re playing against some of the best players in the country,” Tanney said.
Men finish .500
Sophomores Matic Spec and Felix Corwin both finished 1-1 in singles at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Americans, which ended on Oct. 9 for Minnesota.
“It’s always very tough,” head coach Geoff Young said. “[There are] just very good players every year.”
Corwin lost his first match in the tournament to Andrew Watson from the University of Memphis, falling 6-4 and 6-4 in the two sets.
“It was definitely a tough match for me,” Corwin said of the first-round match. “I haven’t played in a competitive match since August. [Andrew Watson is] a really big guy. … He’s just a big hitter.”
Corwin’s second match was a victory against Marco Nunez of Florida State University in the consolation bracket of the tournament on the same day.
Corwin lost the first set but took the next two to win the match.
“He was able to bounce back and have good experience with his back draw match,” Young said. “[It was a] good learning experience for him.”
Spec went 1-1 in the main draw of the tournament. Spec made it to the second round before losing to Dominick Koepfer of Tulane University in two sets.
“I thought he did well,” Young said. “That’s a really tough tournament. He had a good match his first tournament. In the second round, he played a good player, and it didn’t go his way.”
