Another weekend, another pair of victories.
The No. 22 Minnesota menâÄôs tennis team improved its record to 11-2 this past weekend with back-to-back wins over Northwestern and Denver.
âÄúAny Big Ten win is a good win. TheyâÄôre a good team,âÄù head coach Geoff Young said after the Northwestern victory.
Sebastian Gallego and Phillip Arndt climbed out of 7-4 and 8-7 deficits to clinch the doubles point for Minnesota against the Wildcats.
From there it was smooth sailing as the Gophers took five of six singles matches en route to a 6-1 victory, with each of the victories coming in straight sets.
Rok Bonin won in No. 2 singles to double MinnesotaâÄôs team score. Arndt added a victory in the No. 3 match and Julian Dehn clinched the team victory with a win in No. 6.
That momentum carried over to Saturday as Minnesota recorded its first sweep of the season against Denver, winning 7-0.
The Gophers clinched the doubles point when Gallego and Arndt won the deciding match 9-8 (4).
Juan Pablo Ramirez won his first ever collegiate match to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead. In his first time ever playing No. 3 singles, Brendan Ruddock extended the lead to 3-0 with a straight set victory.
Captain Tobias Wernet clinched the victory for the Gophers with a win in No. 2 singles.
With the team victory already decided, Bonin, Dehn and Arndt won their matches in straight sets to give Minnesota the sweep.
âÄú[This weekendâÄôs matches] are great for the team,âÄù Gallego said. âÄúEven though theyâÄôre not the highest ranked teams, they put some pressure on us, especially for doubles.âÄù
The Gophers have now compiled three straight victories since their March 5 defeat in Washington, victories that Gallego said are crucial as the team enters conference play.
âÄúI think coming into the Big Ten, itâÄôs nice to have these wins because we have key matches against Michigan and Michigan State next weekend,âÄù he said. âÄúEvery match in the Big Ten is going to be really important. We have something really good going and we really want to keep it going.âÄù
Other Notes
Bonin has an identical twin brother who plays for the University of Denver.
- Nick Sudheimer contributed to this story
