The Gophers women's tennis team announced Wednesday it is canceling the rest of its 2023 season after injuries left the team with three healthy players.
Gophers women's tennis team cancels remainder of season due to injuries
The Gophers, 5-12 overall, had suffered so many injuries that they were down to three healthy players, prompting the rare decision to cancel the rest of the season.
April 12, 2023 at 7:23PM
"Our first concern is always the health and safety of our student-athletes," Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle said in a statement. "This is an unfortunate and extremely unique situation where we no longer have enough healthy student-athletes to compete for the remainder of the season."
The Gophers, who had seven players on the roster, were 5-12 this season. The team had lost eight straight matches and was 0-8 in Big Ten play while playing primarily with four healthy players.
Coyle said the team had alerted the conference that it would forfeit its final five conference matches and not participate in the Big Ten tournament, which all teams qualify for. It begins April 26 in West Lafayette, Ind.
The Gophers opened the season 4-2 in nonconference matches with wins over Marquette, South Dakota, Drake and St. Thomas. Their final win of the season came against Utah on Feb. 24.
Last season the Gophers finished 18-10 overall, 6-7 in the Big Ten.
The match was the first between Washington and the Gophers since Keegan Cook left the Huskies to coach Minnesota.
