Team is the star of U men's tennis

It's 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, and the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus is echoing with the sounds of ...

Hockey?

Tobias Wernet is playing goal at one end, and Brendan Ruddock is taking a slapshot at the other. Ball hockey, plastic sticks, small nets, lots of yelling.

"Well," Minnesota men's tennis coach Geoff Young said, "it's warm-up."

It's a fairly loose team that, with a somewhat surprising 15-4 record and a No. 23 ranking nationally, is preparing for a very important final weekend of Big Ten Conference play.

And team is the operative phrase here. Young's roster has two players from Germany, including Wernet. There are two from Colombia, including Sebastian Gallego who, if he is able to come back from a foot injury, could provide a late-season boost. One player is from Slovakia, one from Slovenia. We're talking one roster, five countries, three continents. No egos.

In his fifth season, Young has the Gophers tied with Illinois for third place in the Big Ten and among the top 25 in the country. And yet only one of the Gophers is ranked among the top 100 college singles players -- Wernet at No. 98.

"Rarely do we have an easy match," said Wernet, a senior who has a 14-4 individual record. After spending much of the season playing at No. 2 or No. 3 singles, he has moved to No. 1 the past few weeks. "We don't have anyone who is ranked No. 15 or No. 20. My ranking is in the top 100, but I don't really care about that. All I care about is the team. That's what is most important to me."

The Gophers speak many languages, but in one voice. Young has done a good job of selling players from both Europe -- his top assistant, Urban Ljubic, is from Slovenia -- and South America on coming to Minnesota to play college tennis.

"There are players who will take you off their list because of the weather," Young said. "It is what it is. But there are plenty of players out there. Look at our facilities. We have a great indoor facility. We use that."

And use it well. Wernet chose Minnesota over UCLA, Pepperdine and Baylor, based on the school. He is a double-major in the Carlson School of Management who will do an internship with U.S. Bank this summer.

"Pinky McNamara, I don't know if you know him," Wernet said of the former Gophers football All-America who has helped fund Wernet's scholarship. "He once said, "If I could relive five lifetimes, I could never pay the university back what I owe it.' I think we're on the same page."

Rok Bonin, from Slovenia, has been a steady performer at No. 1 or No. 2 singles. Americans Phillip Arndt (Kentucky) and Ruddock (New York) along with German Julian Dehn have given the Gophers depth at singles; the Gophers are a combined 35-19 at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Dehn and Ruddock have been a strong doubles team, as has the team of Arndt and Gallego. In 10 of 14 victories so far, the Gophers have won while securing just four or five of the seven possible points. When you need everybody to play well to succeed, it tends to bring a group together.

Ruddock came to the Gophers' attention while at a national tournament. The native of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., came here on a visit.

"I fell in love with it," he said. "We don't have a No. 1 or No. 2 that is [dominant]," he said. "But we have a very deep team. The coaches, I think, have a good problem, deciding where to put players in the lineup. I think we felt we had a chance at being very good. But I'm surprised, myself, at how good we are this season."

The Gophers' four losses have been to Ohio State (currently ranked No. 4 in the nation), UCLA (No. 9), Washington (No. 22) and Indiana (No. 24). Entering the final weekend of conference matches, the Gophers play Friday at Illinois for the third seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

That's where the Gophers will play for a better seed in the NCAA tournament. Minnesota has qualified for two consecutive national tournaments, advancing to the second round both times. The goal this time is to at least reach the Sweet 16.