ChaThe University of Minnesota men's tennis team saw its 2003-04 season come to a close today as 33rd-ranked Clemson blanked the 37th-ranked Golden Gophers, 4-0, in the opening round of the 2004 NCAA Championships at the Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham, N.C. The Maroon and Gold ends its season with a 14-10 overall record and a third- place finish in the Big Ten with an 8-2 conference mark. Minnesota was appearing in a school-record 11th consecutive NCAA Championships.

The Tigers improve to 23-11 on the year and advance to Sunday's second round to meet sixth-ranked Duke, a 4-0 winner over Winthrop.

Clemson captured the doubles point with wins at the top two positions. Jarmaine Jenkins and Nathan Thompson got CU going with an 8-1 win over Chris Wettengel and Andres Osorio at No. 1. The Tigers gained the first lead of the day with John Boetsch and Damiisa Robinson's 8-4 defeat of Clay Estes and Aleksey Zharinov.

In singles play, Boetsch put the Tigers ahead 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Estes at No. 4. After Goran Sterijovski upended 64th-ranked Aleksey Zharinov in straight sets at No. 2, Ryan Young clinched the match for Clemson with a three-set win over Brian Lipinski at number six.

Zharinov's season continues in two weeks with the 2004 NCAA Singles Championships in Tulsa, Okla. Zharinov earned one of 64 bids for the national singles tournament and will make his second consecutive appearance in the event. He is one of six players from the Big Ten to earn a berth in the 2004 Singles Championships. The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 26-31.

#33 Clemson 4, #37 Minnesota 0
2004 NCAA Championships - First Round
Durham, N.C.
May 15, 2004

SINGLES
1. #80 Chris Wettengel (MN) vs. #96 Nathan Thompson, DNF
2. Goran Sterijovski (CU) def. #64 Aleksey Zharinov, 6-4, 6-2
3. Andres Osorio (MN) vs. Jarmaine Jenkins, DNF
4. John Boetsch (CU) def. Clay Estes, 6-4, 6-2
5. Dusan Tabak (MN) vs. Damiisa Robinson, DNF
6. Ryan Young (CU) def. Brian Lipinski, 6-1, 2-6, 6-0
Order of finish: 4, 2, 6

DOUBLES
1. #37 Jarmaine Jenkins & Nathan Thompson (CU) def. Chris Wettengel & Andres Osorio, 8-1
2. John Boetsch & Damiisa Robinson (CU) def. Clay Estes & Aleksey Zharinov, 8-4
3. Brett Twente & Ryan Young (CU) vs. Dusan Tabak & Sion Wilkins, DNF
Order of finish: 1, 2