An ambitious schedule awaits Minnesota State Moorhead this weekend against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference sidekicks Southwest Minnesota State, Upper Iowa and St. Cloud State.


SCHEDULE - - - Minnesota State University Moorhead vs. Southwest Minnesota State University at 4 p.m. and University of Upper Iowa at 7 p.m. at the Baseline Tennis Club in Minneapolis; MSU Moorhead vs. St. Cloud State University on Sunday, March 29, at 3:30 at Gold's Gym in St. Cloud.

RECORD- - - MSU Moorhead is 4-5 overall and 4-3 vs. Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opposition.

COACH - - - Gary Harris begins his 14th year as head coach at MSU Moorhead.

LINEUP- - - The Dragons' probable lineup for this week:

Singles # 1 Kayla Huether (Brainerd), Fr.
2 Kathryn Neubauer (Mandan, ND), Fr.
3 Emily Delaney (Fargo, ND), Fr.
4 Ellen Matheson (Moorhead), Sr.
5 Laura Benz (Fargo, ND), Sr.
6 Alyse Grelson (Cold Spring), Fr.

Doubles 1 Huether/Matheson
2 Neubauer/Delaney
3 Benz/Grelson

LAST WEEK- - - Minnesota State Moorhead fell to Bemidji State, 5-4, and Minnesota Duluth, 8-1, on a NSIC roadtrip.

LETTERWINNERS- - - MSUM retains four letterwinners, including seniors Laura Benz (Fargo, ND) and Ellen Matheson (Moorhead), junior Traci Pesta (Long Prairie) and sophomore Susan Gilkerson (Brookings, SD).

NEW FACES- - - The 10-player Dragon roster also includes freshmen Emily Delaney (Fargo, ND), Alyse Grelson (Cold Spring), Kayla Huether (Brainerd), Jenna Miller (Moorhead), Kathryn Neubauer (Mandan, ND) and Jennesa Winey (Spicer).

LAST YEAR- - - MSU Moorhead finished 4-13 overall and 4-5 in the NSIC and placed fourth in the eight-team field at the NSIC Championships.

NSIC CHAMPIONSHIPS- - - Minnesota State Moorhead placed fourth at the 2008 NSIC Championships in Minneapolis. Winona State captured the team title with 58 points while the Dragons finished fourth with 35.Alyssa Schafer was a runnerup at number six singles and earned honorable mention All-NSIC honors. Schafer fell to Trisha Baldwin of Southwest Minnesota State 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in the finals.

COACH OF THE YEAR- - - Gary Harris was saluted as NSIC Coach of the Year for guiding MSUM to a runnerup finish at the 2007 NSIC Championships for a third straight year. Harris also won the award in 1998 and 2002.

NEXT- - - MSU Moorhead will face Winona State and Augustana College April 4 in Aberdeen, SD.