SMU Tennis

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The second match of their spring trip looked eerily similar to the first for the Saint Mary's University men's tennis team.

And that wasn't a good thing.

The Cardinals, who opened their three-match swing through the Carolinas with a 6-3 loss to Franklin on Monday in HIlton Head, S.C., dropped their second straight 6-3 decision Thursday, falling to Guilford College.

Things went much better for the Cardinal men (and women) in their second match of the day — and final match of the spring trip — against Greensboro College.

The SMU men put an end to their three-match losing streak, breezing to an 8-1 win over the Pride, while the Cardinal women — playing their lone match of the spring trip — rolled to an identical 8-1 triumph.

David Reckase (La Crosse, Wis.) picked up his second singles win of the week vs. Guilford, posting a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles, while Adam Solseth (Shakopee, Minn.) accounted for the Cardinals' other singles win, recording a three-set, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 10-8 win at No. 3. Tony Miller (Rochester, Minn.) also went three sets at No. 5 singles, but wasn't as fortunate as Solseth, falling 4-6, 6-1, 10-5.

Tom Vollman (Oak Park, Ill.) teamed with Steve Grundhoefer (St. Paul, Minn.) to pick up SMU's other win vs. the Quakers, winning 8-4 at No. 1 doubles.

Against Greensboro, the SMU men were dominant. How dominant? SMU got straight-set singles wins from Grundhoefer, Solseth, Steve Clements (La Crosse, Wis.), Miller and Reckase. The five lose just six games in the 10 sets combined

Equally as dominant were the Cardinal women, who cruised to five, straight-set singles wins, while sweeping the three doubles matches. Val Meschke (Pine River, Minn.) extended her singles winning streak to seven straight — and improved to 13-1 overall — with her second straight 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 3.

Ann Leeder (Greenfield, Wis.), Aubrey Hirsch (Topeka, Kan.), Colleen Rademacher (Belgrade, Minn.) and Brittney Nielsen (Apple Valley, Minn.) also cruised to easy wins, as the SMU women dropped just eight games in the 10 singles sets.