The Minnesota men's tennis team fought hard on Senior Day at the Baseline Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon, but came up short against second-ranked Ohio State, falling 7-0. It was the final home match for 101st-ranked Tobias Wernet , who was the only senior in the lineup. Seniors Sebastian Gallego and Derek Peterson did not play for 24th-ranked UM.

"Ohio State was flat out better today," said Gopher head coach Geoff Young . "It's a good opportunity for us to look at the film and see what it takes in our own games to beat a team of this caliber."

Ohio State came out strong by claiming the doubles point. Phillip Arndt and Brendan Ruddock were able to muster three points against the 12th-ranked pair of Matt Allare and Peter Kobelt, but the Buckeyes gained the advantage in the competition with an 8-3 win.

Balazs Novak and Blaz Rola made it 1-0 OSU by taking down Wernet and Juan Pablo Ramirez at No. 3, but the Gophers salvaged a win when Rok Bonin and Julian Dehn won 8-4 against No. 66 Chase Buchanan and Shuhei Uzawa. The Minnesota duo improved to 12-1 in 2010-11 and handed the Buckeyes their second doubles loss in Big Ten play all season.

"It was a good match for them today," said Young of Bonin and Dehn. "It's good for their confidence and everything."

No. 12 Buchanan opened up singles play with a win over Wernet at the top position and 43rd-ranked Allare took down Ruddock at No. 4 to put Ohio State up by three.

Bonin, who led fellow Slovenian and fifth-ranked Rola for much of the first set was edged out 7-6 (1), 6-3 at No. 2, ending the chances for a Gopher victory. Michael Sicora came close to upsetting No. 65 Devin McCarthy of OSU, but dropped a first-set tiebreaker and was unable to recover, losing 7-6 (3), 6-4.

At the fifth position, 102nd-ranked Novak staved off a Dehn rally that saw the UM junior negate several match points late in the second set to win 6-2, 6-4. No. 112 Ille Van Englen completed the sweep by rallying to beat Arndt at No. 3.

Arndt lost second a 7-4 second-set tiebreaker after winning 6-4 in the first set. The Gopher junior turned a 9-4 deficit in the super tiebreaker into a 9-8 contest, but double faulted to end the match.

"It's been a fast four years," Young said regarding the senior class. "I can't believe it's over and that that was their last home match. They've helped this program get to where it is today and it'll be sad to see them go."

Minnesota will wrap up regular season play next week at No. 17 Illinois and 60th-ranked Iowa before competing at the Big Ten Tournament in Madison, Wis.

No. 2 Ohio State 7, No. 24 Minnesota 0
April 17, 2011
Baseline Tennis Center · Minneapolis, Minn.

Singles Competition

1. No. 12 Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. No. 101 Tobias Wernet (MINN) 6-0, 6-3
2. No. 5 Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Rok Bonin (MINN) 7-6 (1), 6-3
3. No. 112 Ille Van Engelen (OSU) def. Phillip Arndt (MINN) 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (8)
4. No. 43 Matt Allare (OSU) def. Brendan Ruddock (MINN) 6-1, 6-4
5. No. 102 Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Julian Dehn (MINN) 6-2, 6-4
6. No. 65 Devin McCarthy (OSU) def. Michael Sicora (MINN) 7-6 (3), 6-4

Doubles Competition

1. No. 12 Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt (OSU) def. Phillip Arndt /Brendan Ruddock (MINN) 8-3
2. Rok Bonin /Julian Dehn (MINN) def. No. 66 Chase Buchanan/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) 8-4
3. Balazs Novak/Blaz Rola (OSU) def. Juan Pablo Ramirez /Tobias Wernet (MINN) 8-2

Match Notes

Ohio State 25-2 (8-0 Big Ten); National ranking No. 2
Minnesota 15-4 (6-2 Big Ten); National ranking No. 24
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4,2,6,5,3)