In final preparations for the upcoming Big Ten tournament, the Gophers women’s tennis team defeated Purdue on Sunday in West Lafayette, Ind. The win gave Minnesota a weekend split and virtually assured it of earning a top-five seed in the conference tournament.
Minnesota, which won 6-1 over the Boilermakers, lost the doubles point as it was swept in all three matches. It was the Gophers’ turn to do the sweeping in singles, as they won all six matches. Kim Simonsen and Helen Wang were the only players to require three sets.
With the victory on Sunday, the Gophers closed out the regular season 11-9 overall, 6-4 in the Big Ten. Purdue fell to 13-8 and 8-2 in the conference.
On Saturday, the Gophers lost a close match at Illinois, 4-3. Once again they lost the doubles point, as only Jana Hrdinova/Jennifer Hayes teamed to win their match. Nora Sauska, Tarah Elkins and Helen Wang were victorious in singles. Tammy Wang won her first set 6-4 before losing the next two sets, clinching the win for Illinois.
The Big Ten tournament begins Thursday in Madison, Wis.
— Mark Heller
Men’s golf takes second
The Gophers men’s golf team finished second at the 19-team Cobra Collegiate in Akron, Ohio, this weekend.
Minnesota fired a 290-280-300 to finish six-over par, nine strokes behind tourney winner Kent State.
The Gophers also placed four individual finishers in the top 15. James McLean shot a 70-71-73 (-2) to finish in fourth place. Adam Dooley (fifth), Bill Thompson (t-12) and Martin LeMesurier (t-12) rounded out Minnesota’s top finishers.
The Gophers travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., next weekend for the Wolverine Invitational.

— Michael Rand