The Minnesota women’s tennis team tied and surpassed the school record for consecutive victories, now set at 10, with weekend defeats of Wisconsin and Iowa.
The Gophers (13-3, 4-1 Big Ten) tied the record Friday with a 7-0 spanking of the Badgers. Nora Sauska, Sandra Olsen, Kim Simonsen, Amy Thomas and Tammy Wang all earned singles wins for Minnesota.
Simonsen and Thomas teamed up for a win at No. 2 doubles, with Michaela Havelkova and Jennifer Howard won at No. 3, giving Minnesota the doubles point and a clean sweep.
If the first win was a screaming overhand smash, the Gophers used a drop shot to place themselves in the record books Sunday.
Iowa fell 4-3 Sunday.
Sauska, Simonsen, Thomas and Wang all won their singles matches, giving Minnesota the win despite losses at No. 1 and No. 5 singles and the doubles point.
The singles win was also the 12th-straight for Minnesota’s Tammy Wang, who competes at No. 6 singles. Sunday’s competition was the last home match for the Gophers this season.
The men’s team also swept a pair of matches this weekend, defeating the same opponents as the women, but traveling to do so. The wins keep the Gophers in the hunt for a Big Ten championship.
The men opened at Wisconsin with an impressive 6-1 win. The Gophers won all six singles matches, but lost two of three doubles to drop a point.
The men also had trouble with Iowa, but stopped the Hawkeyes with an identical 4-3 score.
The Gophers play host to Illinois and Northwestern this weekend. Both matches are at the 98th Street Racquet Club in Bloomington.