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SMU at Maryville Wed., April 12 |
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THE SCORE
Maryville 7, SMU men 2 |
Cardinals' winning streak comes to a half with 7-2 loss to Maryville
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — It's a rare occasion when Tyler Stevenson (Neenah, Wis.) finds himself on the losing end of a tennis match.
In fact, heading into Wednesday's nonconference match against Maryville, the SMU senior had only dropped one singles match all season — and had amassed a 59-17 singles record during his four-year career at SMU.
Unfortunately for Stevenson — and the Cardinals — Wednesday afternoon was one of those rare occasions.
Twice.
Stevenson had his six-match winning streak snapped at No. 1 singles, falling to Maryville's Matt Schlueter in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Then, to make matters worse, the SMU senior suffered just his third doubles loss of the season, as he and Adam Solseth (Shakopee, Minn.) were on the short end of an 8-4 decision.
The rest of the Cardinals didn't fare much better, as Maryville snapped SMU's two-match winning streak with a 7-2 decision.
"It was a tough match — both for Tyler and for the rest of the team," said SMU coach Jeff Halberg. "Tyler's been bothered by a shoulder injury that has really hampered his serving and his two-handed backhand. But give (Schlueter) credit, he's a very good player and played extremely well today.
"We had our chances, we just weren't able to get the bounces we needed," said Halberg, noting that his Cardinals came out on the short end of a pair of three-set singles matches that could have turned the tide in SMU's favor. "We played well, I'm certainly not going to complain about the effort — we were just a little unlucky."
Brian Robinson (Cannon Falls, Minn.) recorded SMU's lone singles win, a 6-4, 6-4 decision at No. 4, while Steve Clements (La Crosse, Wis.) and Andrew Pamperin (Menomonie, Wis.) teamed for an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles.