Gopher The 18th-ranked University of Minnesota men's tennis team was defeated by #33 Notre Dame 7-0 in South Bend, Ind., tonight in the first dual match of the 2001 season for both teams. The Golden Gophers will next compete in the Big Ten Singles Championships starting tomorrow in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Irish won the doubles point and swept all six singles matches in the victory.. The 38th-ranked doubles team of junior Javier Taborga and Aaron Talarico clinched the doubles point at No. 1 doubles over Minnesota's Jorge Duenas and Harsh Mankad, and Talarico won 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 at No. 4 singles over Tyson Parry to clinch the match.

95th-ranked Casey Smith highlighted the singles competition with a come-from-behind 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over #53 Harsh Mankad of the Golden Gophers. Four of the six Irish victories in singles were in straight sets.

#33 NOTRE DAME 7, #18 MINNESOTA 0

Singles
No. 1: #95 Casey Smith (ND) def. #53 Harsh Mankad (M) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
No. 2: #75 Javier Taborga (ND) def. Jorge Duenas (M) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
No. 3: Luis Haddock-Morales (ND) def. Jon Svensson (M) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4: Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Tyson Parry (M) 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 5: Brian Farrell (ND) def. Eric Robertson (M) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6: Matthew Scott (ND) def. Ed Marques (M) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles
No. 1: #38 Javier Taborga/Aaron Talarico (ND) def. Jorge Duenas/Harsh Mankad (M) 8-5
No. 2: Luis Haddock-Morales/Casey Smith (ND) vs. Tyson Parry/Jon Svensson (M) 7-7, abandoned
No. 3: James Malhame/Matthew Scott (ND) def. Ed Marques/Eric Robertson (M) 8-3