prThe 19th-ranked Golden Gopher men's tennis team opened its dual meet season with a pair of wins and in the process, head coach David Geatz became the school's winningest coach in the history of the program. Minnesota defeated No. 30 SMU, 5-2, on Saturday morning and No. 38 Tulane,4-2, on Saturday night.

Geatz has a 261-123 record with Minnesota in 14-plus seasons. He passed his predecessor, Jerry Noyce, who totaled 260 wins during his 15-year coaching career.

Against the Green Wave, Minnesota's Manuel Lievano defeated his brother, Jorge Lievano of Tulane, at No. 4 singles to secure the match by the score of 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. Minnesota's Aleksey Zharinov and Clay Estes also earned singles wins.

The doubles point came down to the No. 2 doubles match. Clay Estes and Manuel Lievano won the tiebreaker by the score of 7-4 and claimed the match 9-8 over Dimitri Koch and Mattias Westerberg. At No. 1 doubles, Tulane's Michael Kogan and Victor Romero, ranked 29th in the country, defeated No. 49 Thomas Haug and Avery Ticer, of the Golden Gophers, 9-8 (7-5).

Earlier in the 5-2 win vs. SMU, the Golden Gophers won two of three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. Avery Ticer clinched the win for Minnesota with his 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 singles win over SMU's Peter Oredsson.

Minnesota's No. 54 Thomas Haug was defeated by No. 61 Johan Brunstrom of SMU 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (11-9) in No. 1 singles. In No. 2 singles, No. 58 Aleksey Zharinov lost to Gqinyai Chingoka of SMU 2-6, 6-1, 4-6.

In other singles action, Chris Wettengel outlasted SMU's Lukasz Senczynszyn 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. Manuel Lievano and Clay Estes each won their matches in straight sets with Lievano downing Alexis Rudzinski 6-1, 6-4.

In doubles action, No. 49 Haug/Ticer lost to No. 33 Brunstrom/Soderberg 7-9 at No. 1 doubles. The duos of Lievano/Estes and Wettengel/Zharinov defeated their opponents 8-6, 8-4 respectively.

#19 Minnesota 4, #38 Tulane 2

Singles
1. Michael Kogan (Tulane) def. Thomas Haug (MN), 6-4, 6-4
2. Aleksey Zharinov (MN) def. Victor Romero (Tulane), 6-1, 6-4
3. Dimitri Koch (Tulane) def. Chris Wettengel (MN), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
4. Manuel Lievano (MN) def. Jorge Lievano (Tulane), 7-6, 6-7, 6-3
5. Avery Ticer (MN) vs. Mattias Westerberg (Tulane), 6-2, 4-6, 4-3, abd.
6. Clay Estes (MN) def. Hannu Piiroinen (Tulane), 6-4, 6-0

Doubles
1. Kogan/Romero (Tulane) def. Haug/Ticer (MN), 9-8 (5)
2. Lievano/Estes (MN) def. Koch/Westerberg (Tulane), 9-8 (4)
3. Zharinov/Wettengel (MN) def. Vasiljevic/Lievano (Tulane), 8-2

#19 Minnesota 5, #30 SMU 2

Singles
1. Johan Brunstrom (SMU) def. Thomas Haug (MN) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (11-9)
2. Gqinyai Chingoka (SMU) def. Aleksey Zharinov (MN) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
3. Chris Wettengel (MN) def. Lukasz Senczyszyn (SMU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
4. Manuel Lievano (MN) def. Alexis Rudzinski (SMU) 6- 1, 6-4
5. Avery Ticer (MN) def. Peter Oredsson (SMU) 3-6, 6- 2, 6-3
6. Clay Estes (MN) def. Ryan Mauck (SMU) 6-3, 6-0

Doubles
1. Brunstrom/Soderberg (SMU) def. Haug/Ticer (MN) 9-7
2. Lievano/ Estes (MN) def. Cohn/Chingoka (SMU) 8-6
3. Wettengel/Zharinov (MN) def. Oredsson/Senczynzyn (SMU) 8-4