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2005 Men's Record: 3-6 MIAC / 10-13 Overall
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| 2004 Women's Record: 4-6 MIAC / 12-9 Overall | |
| Last Week's Results: SMU women 8th at MIAC / Details SMU men 8th at MIAC / Details |
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SMU's Leeder wins MIAC's Arthur Ashe Award
The Cardinals' No. 2 singles players — and a member of SMU's top doubles team — entered Friday's opening day of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships boasting a career-best 15-4 singles record, not to mention a 14-4 doubles mark. Before Leeder even stepped on the court for his first match of the two-day conference tournament was over, however, Leeder had already pocketed a "win" far more impressive than any he had — or would — record. Friday afternoon, Leeder was presented with the MIAC's Arthur Ashe Award, presented to a senior player who has demonstrated sportsmanship, high academic performance, tennis achievement and humanitarian concern. "It's a great, great honor for Mark," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg, adding that Leeder is the first-ever SMU player to win the award. "The Arthur Ashe Award is the highest honor a player can receive in our conference — even high than all-conference. "Mark has had a great career here at Saint Mary's, and he is so deserving of this award." |
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's tennis team got their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament off to a roaring start last Friday, as the Cardinals cruised to an impressive 7-2 win over Hamline.
That roaring start, however, came to a roaring halt in the second round, as the Cardinals dropped a 9-0 decision to conference powerhouse Carleton, then lost back-to-back 6-3 decisions to St. Olaf and Bethel.
"Despite the score (in the Carleton match), the ladies played very well all day," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "We came out in that first match (against Hamline) and really took it to them. It was a great match all the way around – and a great way for us to get the (conference) tournament started.
Carleton, which posted their second straight 9-0 win over the Cardinals this season, won all six singles matches in straight sets, with Lisa Thompson (Lake City, Minn.) and Aubrey Hirsch (Topeka, Kan.) giving the Knights a run for their money at No. 3 and No. 6 singles, where Carleton came away with 7-5, 6-3 and 7-6, 6-4 wins, respectively.
The Cardinals won five of the six singles matches in their opening-round win vs. Hamline, as Ashley Meschke (Pequot Lakes, Minn.), Thompson, Becky Newby (Brookfield, Wis.) and Lindsay Johnson (Rogers, Minn.) all won in straight sets, while Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.) rallied from a set down to post a 4-6, 6-4, 10-2 win at No. 2. SMU completed the win with victories by Thompson-Michele Clarke (Omaha, Neb.) at No. 2 doubles and by Newby-Hirsch at No. 3.
Against the Oles, Newby and Hirsch accounted for all three SMU wins, as Newby posted a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles, while Hirsch added a three-set, 1-6, 6-3, 10-7 triumph at No. 6. The two then teamed up for an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles.
SMU fell behind 3-0 against Bethel in the seventh-place match, dropping all three doubles matches. Meschke, Leeder and Newby all posted straight-set singles wins, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals closed out their season dropping three straight.
"It was kind of a tough way to end the season, but these ladies have a lot to be proud of," said Halberg. "They just didn't have anything left in the tank (against Bethel). They fought so hard in that Olaf match, they just ran out of gas against Bethel.
"I can't say enough about the way they played this year," continued Halberg, whose women's team finished with a 12-9 overall record — their first-ever winning season. "There were so many positives this season — and, hopefully, this was just a sign of good things to come in the future."
And that goes for the SMU men, too.
Like their female counterparts, the Cardinal men opened with a solid win, only to lose their final three matches.
Less than two weeks ago, the Cardinals left the SMU Tennis Center with a hard-fought, nailbiting, 5-4 victory over Macalester in the teams' regular-season MIAC regular-season match.
"It was a match that could have gone either way," Halberg said afterwards. "The guys hung tough and got the job done."
The Cardinals and Scots met again last Friday in the opening round of the MIAC Tournament — and this time, SMU left little doubt.
SMU swept through the three doubles matches, and picked up singles wins at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 singles en route to a convincing 7-2 victory.
Things didn't go quite as smoothly the rest of the way, however.
Carleton cruised to a 7-2 second-round win over the Cardinals, while SMU was a tough-luck loser in its opening match on Saturday, falling to St. Olaf 5-4, before losing an 8-1 decision to Hamline in the seventh-place match.
Tyler Stevenson (Neenah, Wis.), Mark Leeder (Grenfield, Wis.), Tony Miller (Rochester, Minn.) and Dan Fahey (Brookfield, Ill.) were all singles winners vs. Macalester — with Leeder needing three sets to get past the Scots' Aaron Heerboth 6-0, 4-6, 10-8.
Stevenson and Leeder also teamed for a 9-8 (10-8) win at No. 1 doubles. Miller and Ryan Kennedy (Rochester, Minn.) added an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles, while Adam Solseth (Shakopee, Minn.)-Tom Vollman (Oak Park, Ill.) completed the doubles sweep wtih an 8-6 win at No. 3.
Leeder gained a bit of revenge over Carleton's Peter Vanum to account for SMU's lone singles win vs. the Knights, as Leeder won 1-6, 6-0, 10-7. Varnum beat Leeder in three sets — including 14-12 in the third-set tiebreaker — during their regular-season meeting.
Leeder also had a hand in SMU's other win vs. Carleton, teaming with Stevenson for a n 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles.
SMU opened play vs. St. Olaf with doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 3 as Leeder-Stevenson posted an 8-6 win at No. 1, with Solseth-Vollman adding an 8-5 win at No. 3. Stevenson and Leeder also won their singles matches — Stevenson cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 1, and Leeder adding a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2.
Leeder was the lone SMU winner vs. Hamline in the seventh-place match, as the SMU senior posted a three-set, 0-6, 6-3, 10-8 win at No. 2 singles. Stevenson dropped a heartbreaking three-setter — 4-6, 7-5, 10-7 — at No. 1 singles, while Fahey was a 7-6, 6-7, 10-2 loser at No. 5.
"The guys had a great season," said Halberg. "They continued to improve as the season went on, and were playing pretty solid tennis (heading into the conference meet.
"We're going to miss (lone senior) Mark Leeder — but with everyone else coming back, the future looks bright."