Cardinal men get off on the wrong foot in loss to Luther;
SMU women can't match St. Olaf's depth in 7-2 setback

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team got off on the wrong foot in its nonconference match against last Luther Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals dropped all three doubles matches in rather convincing fashion, and Luther never let SMU regain any of the momentum, as the Norse handed Saint Mary's its second straight loss, a 7-2 decision at the SMU Tennis Center.

"I knew this match would be a tough challenge — Luther has really stepped things up a notch over last year," said Halberg, whose team was coming off a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to St. Olaf on Friday in which it was the Cardinals who opened with a 2-1 lead in the doubles matches, only to fall in four of the six sincles matches. "(Luther's) doubles teams were outstanding and they jumped out to that quick 3-0 lead that we never recovered from."

The Cardinals did pick up a pair of singles wins at No. 1 and No. 2 — but it wasn't easy. Tyler Stevenson (Neenah, Wis.) needed three sets to dispose of Marin Niewiadomski 6-3, 3-6, 10-1 at No. 1, while Mark Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) outlasted Luther's Jono Martin, 7-6 (12), 7-5. It was the fifth win in six matches at No. 1 for Stevenson, while Leeder's loss was his first in the Cardinals' opening six matches.

That, however, was as close as SMU would get as Luther won the final four singles matches in straight sets.

"Tyler and Mark played great tennis — Mark's match alone took more than two-and-a-half hours," said Halberg. "I was very pleased with the effort that I saw — especially in the singles. Luther was just too much for us."

SPEAKING OF TOO MUCH, the SMU women ran into a St. Olaf team that was just too deep as the Oles handed the Cardinals a 7-2 setback last Saturday.

"St. Olaf is a very solid, very deep team," said Halberg. "Their top four players are all tough, experienced players — and they made it tough on us."

Ashley Meschke (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) picked up the Cardinals' lone singles win, needing three sets to defeat Beth Erie, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8. Jennifer Cochran (Winona, Minn.) also battled through a three-set singles match, but the SMU senior wasn't able to come up with the same result, as she lost 4-6, 6-4, 10-4 at No. 6.

Cochran earned a bit of redemption in doubles play, as she teamed with Becky Newby (Brookfield, Wis.) for an 8-6 win at No. 3.

"I was proud of the way the ladies battled — they put up a great fight," said Halberg. "Hopefully, we'll get another shot at them in the conference tournament."