On the day the 1981 Big Ten champion Minnesota men’s tennis team was honored in a mid-match ceremony, the current UM netters recorded their first sweep of the season with a 7-0 thumping of Denver on Saturday at the Baseline Tennis Center. The match concluded the No. 22 Gophers’ 2011 non-conference schedule and pushed the team’s home winning streak to six.

"I thought it was a really good weekend," said UM head coach Geoff Young. "I think we’re playing good tennis. We beat two pretty good teams pretty soundly, at least on the scoreboard, and I’m really happy."

After a shaky beginning to the doubles competition, Minnesota recovered to grab the match’s first point. Denver took the lead when Enej Bonin, along with partner Yannick Weihs, took down his twin brother Rok Bonin and his partner Tobias Wernet, 8-3.

Brendan Ruddock and Julian Dehn evened the score with an 8-5 win at No. 3 and for the second consecutive day, Sebastian Gallego and Phillip Arndt completed a Gopher doubles rally with a match tiebreaker win at the first position, 9-8 (4).

In similar fashion to Friday’s 6-1 win over No. 70 Northwestern, the Gophers rolled in singles play.

With Gallego sitting out in the singles competition, Juan Pablo Ramirez got things started for UM with his first collegiate win at No. 6 singles. Then Ruddock, playing at the third position for the first time in his career, finished off DU’s Jens Vorkefeld soon after to put the Gophers on the cusp of a win.

"It was good," said Young of Ramirez’ first victory. "He won easily, 6-1, 6-1, and he got a quick point, which was a good lift for us. I’m happy for him."

Tobias Wernet sealed the victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 50 Enej Bonin at No. 2 and Rok Bonin added to the rout with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Weihs at the top position. Dehn and Arndt completed the sweep with straight-set wins.

The Gophers, who are 2-0 in Big Ten play, get back to conference action next week with road matches against No. 44 Michigan State and No. 18 Michigan. They come home to host 32nd-ranked Indiana and 67th-ranked Purdue the following week.

No. 22 Minnesota 7, Denver 0
March 26, 2011
Baseline Tennis Center · Minneapolis, Minn.

Singles Competition

1. Rok Bonin (MINN) def. Yannick Weihs (DU) 6-3, 6-1
2. Tobias Wernet (MINN) def. No. 50 Enej Bonin (DU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Brendan Ruddock (MINN) def. Jens Vorkefeld (DU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Phillip Arndt (MINN) def. Andrew Landwerlen (DU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Alex Clinkenbeard (DU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Juan Pablo Ramirez (MINN) def. Angel Alvarez (DU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles Competition

1. Sebastian Gallego/Phillip Arndt (MINN) def. Jens Vorkefeld/Andrew Landwerlen (DU) 9-8 (4)
2. Enej Bonin/Yannick Weihs (DU) def. Rok Bonin/Tobias Wernet (MINN) 8-3
3. Brendan Ruddock/Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Angel Alvarez/Alex Clinkenbeard (DU) 8-5

Match Notes

Denver 3-12
Minnesota 11-2; National ranking No. 22

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,3,2,1,5,4)